Accident Of Fate
by allen.seizmik
Summary: After his father leaves the family and his mom looses her job, Deidara comes to Amegakure H.S. hoping for a normal life. But when you become a teen dad and you find out that your fantasies don't only contain girls, things become as abnormal as can be.
1. Konan

**I hope you guys enjoy this story! Um...just so you know, no I don't own Naruto (don't sue me ^.^;;) and the plot- or actually the whole entire story was from the head of my friend Marcial. (or as I call him, Ritsuka) All I'm doing is writting it out for him but yeah, he's the brains behind this story. The only problem with him is he's a lazy-ass and has no motivation whatsoever to sit down and type up the story. So I'm doing it for him. Lol. By the way, this storty is named after Ritsuka's band :D Again, I take no responsibilty on whatever the hell goes on in this story. Hurt/hug him, not me, hahaha. Anyways, enjoy!**

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Whispers followed Deidara as he entered the room. He kept his head down, his bangs covering his left eye. His other eye swept discreetly across the room. He made his way to the back of the room, avoiding the nineteen pairs of eyes that looked at him.

He sat in the only empty chair left, next to a girl with midnight blue eyes and hair; a white paper flower adorned her hair, which was pulled up into a loose bun. She looked at him through black-rimmed eyes and then looked away, her lip piercing glinted in the light.

Deidara did not look up, his hands toying with the tips of his waist-length blond hair.

Someone came into the room, a teacher. He was tall, with brown hair and sharp black eyes. His presence immediately caused everyone to become still and quiet, as though a mute button had been pressed somewhere. He looked around awhile and, when Deidara finally looked up, he could see the man's black eyes staring directly at him. The blonde blinked, surprised, and then looked back at his desk, resuming the stroking of his hair.

Once the morning announcements were over, the tall man stood up and paced around his desk.

"Alright," he said, and the talking that had started again died instantly. "I don't believe anyone finished the assignment from last class. Take out your books and, as the board says, turn to page 129 and continue to answer questions one through forty. In complete sentences."

There was a lot of noise and movement as everyone got out paper and books. Deidara reached into his backpack and took out the History book he had received only a few minutes ago from the bookroom lady.

"You're the new student, right?" said a voice behind Deidara. "I'm your History teacher, Fujisaki sensei. Konan...would you please partner up with..."

He looked at Deidara, his eyebrows raised.

"Deidara..." the blonde said quietly.

"Right. Partner up with Deidara please. I expect the work done by the end of the period..."

Fujisaki left to his desk, where he took out a book from a drawer and disappeared behind it.

"Damn...I didn't do any work last period. And we're studying ancient Konohagakure..." said the girl next to Deidara. She pushed her desk next to his and tucked a loose lock of blue hair behind her ear.

"It's fine...we were already past Konoha in my school," Deidara replied, quickly answering the question in the book on his paper:

_'1. Name the first five Hokages of Konoha. (In order.)'_

Konan looked in surprise as Deidara answered question after question without even looking for he answers in the book.

She smiled. "You nerd..." she said jokingly.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"What've you got next?" Konan asked Deidara as they walked down the hall.

Deidara took out his already crumpled schedule. "Urgh...P.E."

"Me too..." Konan replied. "C'mon, or we'll be late."

Ten minutes later, Deidara was involved in a heate argument with the P.E. coach. The coach, an average height man with black hair, advanced threatningly on Deidara.

"I'm not suiting out!" Deidara shouted.

The older man grabbed Deidara by the front of his jacket and lifted him a few inches off the floor. "You are suiting out. I don't take crap from other people! Not people like you anyway," he spat.

Deidara didn't answer. He continued to glare back at the man before him and something seemed to change the other's mind.

Deidara was released.

"Fine, do whatever you want! Don't expect to have a good grade in my class!" the coach yelled, walking outside.

"I wont, hm!" Deidara shouted back, his eyes boring into the back of the man's head.

Everyone began to file out of the gym. A small hand settled on Deidara's shoulder. He whirled around, his hand curling into a tight fist. It was Konan.

"Shit, you scared me," Deidara breathed, relieved. For a second, he could've sworn it was...no,_ he_ was far away and couldn't get to Deidara.

"I can see that," she said, eyeing his fist cautiously.

He relaxed his hand.

"You really shouldn't talk back to Takahashi sensei like that..." she said as they walked out of the gym.

"If you think I'm gonna let some bosst son of a bitch order me around-"

"I'm not saying to take his shit," Konan cut in. "But I'm not saying kick his ass either."

Deidara said nothing, she was right.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"C'mon you've gotta meet my friends..." Konan said, grabbing Deidara's hand (he felt his face grow slightly warm) and pulling him along.

She led him toward a group of people standing in the shade of a large tree. The tallest was a guy with spiky, bright orange hair and too many piercings to count. Next to him was a much shorter person with raven black hair tied back into a ponytail and eyes a mysterious shade of reddish brown. There was a redhead with big brown eyes, he was the shortest of the group. A tall guy with white blonde hair brushed back and violet eyes stood next to him. Someone else joined them; a tall guy with spiky blue hair and small black eyes followed by a someone with hair dyed green and eyes a shade of yellow. The last was a mysterious looking someone with a hood drawn over their head and tattoos all over their arms, neck and hands that looked like stitches.

"Hey guys..." Konan said as she approached them, finally releasing Deidara's hand. "This is Deidara."

"Hey," said Deidara, raising his hand lazily to greet them.

Konan pointed at the one with the orange hair. "This is Nagato"-he scowled-"but we call him Pein. He's Itachi. Uchiha Itachi," she pointed to the black haired one.

"Akasuna No Sasori," she pointed at the redhead. "Hidan, Kakuzu, Kisame, and Zetsu..." the one with the white hair, the mysterious one, the blue haired one, and the green haired one.

"'Sup," said Pein.

"You coming? We're going to the park..." said Zetsu. He had a low, raspy voice.

Sasori frowned. "Potheads..."

Pein smiled and began to walk, everyone but Konan, Deidara, and Sasori.

"Sorry guys, not today..." said Konan.

Deidara wanted to go but if he came got caught high again...

"We'll come back in a while..." Kisame shouted.

Konan turned back to Deidara and Sasori. "C'mon let's go grab a burger or something. I just got my car back today..."

"Alright," Deidara said.

Sasori nodded and they followed Konan to the parking lot. As they waited for Konan to open her navy blue car, Sasori turned to Deidara and smiled.

"Welcome to the group," he laughed.

"Thanks," Deidara replied, getting into the car.

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**This is the beginning of a very dramatic, but sometimes romantic story. It's will be awesome. By the way, remember that I'm just writting this story! I rely 100% on my friend Marcial (Ritsuka) for help as this is HIS plot and HIS idea. Therefore the credit should be his. If chapters don't come out, it is probably HIS fault hahaha. Kill HIM. See you guys later, R&R plz? Thanks.**


	2. Dinner with Yugiri

**Awesome! I'm glad you guys liked his story!! Well, I'm continuing, just as you guys asked, enjoy!**

By the time Pein and the rest returned to school, Konan, Deidara, and Sasori had come back, all three sipping what was left of their soda. Deidara felt sick from the food. He wasn't used to eating lunch.

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"Guys, guys...what's for lunch?" Kisame said eagerly, rushing up to them.

They all reeked of smoke and were visibly high.

"I don't know, we went out to eat," Sasori replied.

"Awesome!" Kisame yelled, running into the cafeteria.

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "But I didn't-"

"We know," Konan cut in.

"We have Spanish next..." Pein said distractedly, his eyes following a fly.

Deidara consulted his schedule. "Me too..."

They walked over to a bench and sat down. Zetsu preferred to sit under the shade of the tree looming over the bench. He sat on the floor, looking up at the tree's leaves, a wide smile on his face. Itachi and Kakuzu wanted to ear so they left into the cafeteria. Konan stared absentmindedly at the ski while Pein smiled in a faraway sort of way at nothing at all.

Hidan turned to Deidara. "So...how come you moved here?"

"We had to move, my mom works," Deidara lied.

"From where?" asked Hidan with a voice that made one wonder how he could keep up with the conversation.

"Iwa," the blonde replied.

Hidan nodded and then turned to Sasori. "What time is it, dude?"

Sasori stood up and looked at his watch. "The bell's about to ring."

And, as he said it, the bell rang.

"C'mon guys..." said Zetsu as Kisame, Itachi, and Kakuzu came running out of the cafeteria with their mouth stuffed with food.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Deidara walked home alone. He had refused Pein's offer for a ride home, knowing all too well that he might be tempted into his "old ways". Things hadn't been good since Deidara's father had left the family for another, younger woman. Deidara's mother, Oigimi, had started dating. So far, she had brought three different men into the house and they had only moved in a few days ago. He dreaded arriving at the house, knowing very well he'd probably find his mother with another, random guy she'd met only that day.

He lit a cigarette and sighed.

When he finally got home, he quickly put out his cigarette and hesitated. As he suspected, he found a man sitting on the couch. He was a tall, thin man with dark brown hair and matching small eyes. He looked around as Deidara opened the door and stared at the blonde in bewilderment.

"I don't mean to be rude," the man said. "But who are you?"

"That depends," Deidara replied. "Who are you?"

"Murasaki Yugiri," said the man, stretching out a hand to Deidara, which the blonde shook.

Yugiri took a moment to study Deidara's hair and clothes before the blonde spoke again.

"So you must be my mother's new boyfriend?" asked Deidara. Years of experience told him not to trust anyone, even if he had just shaken Yugiri's hand. "I'm Deidara..."

"Yes. Funny, Oigimi never mentioned you before..." replied Yugiri. Then he pointed to Deidara's back pocket, from which a cigarette pack was sticking out. "Aren't you a little young to be smoking?"

"Two more years and it's legal..." Deidara said indifferently. He went to sit on the couch, opposite Yugiri.

"What happened there?" asked Yugiri, pointing at a scar on Deidara's throat. It looked as if it was unable to heal correctly and was plainly visible.

Deidara hesitated. "Nothing...it happened when I was a kid..."

Deidara wondered what this man could have possibly seen in Oigimi. She was a woman who loved to party and she was not above getting drunk and flashing every man she could see. She had never been much of a real mother to Deidara, who had learned to cook and look after himself by the time he was nine. It was because of this that Deidara had not ever held even the smallest amout of love for her. He had learned from an early age that she was not to be trusted.

Ironically, Oigimi was a beautiful woman. She came out of the bathroom, her freshly-curled hair bouncing behind her. She had wondrous azure eyes and used makeup skillfully. Her eyes were lined with black, which gave them a perfect, smoky look. Her lips were plump and perfectly shaped. Today they were a perfect shade of pinl that favored her immensely. Her nose was straight and unbroken, one to be envied, and so was her chin.

Deidara resembled her in the soft, manageable golden hair, the azure eyes, the nose, and chin. He was talled than her by about a foot, which was the only thing he had inherited from his father.

Today she was wearing a simple but stunning pink dress and thin slippers. She would, of course, be going out to dinner with Yugiri.

"You home, Deidei?" she said, and Deidara winced at the nickname: He hated it.

"Yes," he replied stiffly. He could not bring himself to love or even smile in front of the woman.

"C'mon, go clean yourself up or something. You're coming to dinner with me and Yugiri. I suppose you've already introduced yourselves while I was in the bathroom...?" she said innocently, but Deidara knew this was her plan all along: She did not want to be bothered with introducing her obviously troubled teenager of a son to her boyfriend.

_Dinner?_ Nuh-un. Deidara didn't eat dinner. Hell, he hardly ever ate. Oigimi would make him eat untill he burst and he despised eating. And with these people he was sure he'd hate it even more. He found himself wishing he'd stayed at school.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

**Yugri's POV**

"So Deidara, how are you doing in school?" I asked, chewing my bite of steak slowly.

He looked up at me, his snakebites glinted in the lamplight. "Good," he said.

_'You liar,' _I thought.

There was a moment of silence. Oigimi had left to the bathroom not long ago and I really wished she'd hurry up, I had to admit: Deidara scared me shitless. Teenagers were strange and he was the strangest I'd seen. He was hardly eating and looked like he didn't get enough sleep, if he got any at all. That scar. That scar on his throat was making me uneasy.

"Do you...do you have a girlfriend?" I asked, trying to make a conversation happen. Part of me wanted to get along with the kid, the other part wanted very much to run.

"No, we barely moved here," Deidara replied.

"Oh. How come you moved? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

Deidara studied me a bit, as though deciding if he could tell me.

"After my probation ended, I was expelled from school for- for someting and then my parents split up," came Deidara's reply at last.

It was at at that moment that Oigimi came back. She sat down and asked us how everything was. We both replied that everything was fine and I asked her if she wanted me to call the waiter for something. She smiled and said no. I was sure I loved this woman but her son...

_...Her son was another story._

XxXxXxXxXxX

**Three Days Later**

I closed the door. Oigimi had only just left. I had helped her get a job for some rich business man and she had some out-of-town business to attend to. She would be gone a month. I had moved in a day ago and this would mean that I was not only taking care of the house, but Deidara too.

To be honest, I _wasn't_ thrilled.

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**I hope you guys like this chapter :) R&R please! Arigato!**


	3. Rage

**First of all, I want to thank you guys so much for your support =] I really was feeling like shit since, well, "you know" and I can see that you guys care ^ ^ Once, again, I want to thank you all.**

**Thanks to:**

**9shadowcat9**

**black55widow**

**izetta-chan**

**For your support! You don't know how much it means to me!! =]**

**Second, I'm planning to write yet another story (maybe a one-shot?) and I need ideas. The pairing will either be SasoxDei or KonanxPein. You guys decide =] I will make the final decision on June 25.**

**By the way, my brother had a sudden idea for a story but he ranges in the same category of laziness as Ritsuka-san (the mastermind behind this story) so he asked me to write it. It's called Byakko and the pairings are KonanxPein, later KonanxGaara, ItaxDei (I begged him to change it to SasoxDei but noooo), and HidanxKakuzu. (-- Long live YAOI! Except the ItaxDei -sob-). He says the story is basically a romantic one but with a lot of drama and tragedy. Gaara has loved Konan for mostly all his life but she's been dating Pein. She soon starts to think she's falling in love with Gaara and Pein notices. There is a drive-by shooting (apparently the Akatsuki is involved in some kind of drug trafficking or something, it is still kind of unclear) and Gaara is left in a coma after taking a bullet for Konan. Aw, sweet. Well, Pein tries to kill Gaara, fails, and now Konan is brokenhearted that her boyfriend tried to kill her childhood friend and possible love. She has to make the right choice because it is unknown wether Gaara will come out of his coma or not. Will she stay with Pein to the end right up until his execution or will she leave him for Gaara, whose health, it seems, is improving? Anyway, you guys decide, vote 'yes' or 'no' on it via review =] I will count the 'votes' on June 25 along with the ones for the one-shot story =] Thanks for giving my bro's story a chance! He's only 11, but pretty creative ;D**

**This is a disclaimer (Warning: do not eat) and it wants you guys to know that while I may own some Naruto mangas, I do not own Naruto. Kishimoto-san does.**

**Anyway, enjoy! This chapter is dedicated to all of you guys, you made my day =]**

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**Normal POV**

**One Week Later**

Deidara walked down the hall, headed for Art. Art was sacred to Deidara, it was the one thing that kept him alive. Well, that and nicotine. Deidara loved his cigarettes. And he wanted to believe they loved him back.

He stepped into the room and took a seat next to a familiar redhead.

"Hey," Deidara said, dumping his backpack onto the floor.

"Hi," Sasori said, looking up at him. There was something about the redhead's voice that suggested something more than a simple greeting.

Narita sensei was a great art teacher. If you could call her a teacher. She was more like just there to watch over them as they painted, sculpted, and sketched. It was wonderful.

Sasori watched Deidara as he sculpted a bird out of clay. "Wow. You're talented. Are you planning on having that put on display in the art gallery?"

Deidara laughed. "You're not serious, right?"

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "Of course I am, you're a brilliant sculptor!"

"Art," said Deidara, digging clay out from under his fingernails and turning to face Sasori. "Is not art if it's just _there. _Art is something sudden-_ fleeting! _One minute it's there, the next it's gone! That's the beauty of it. That's art, Sasori."

Sasori scoffed. "Now I've got to ask if _you're_ the one who's kidding. Art is meant to last forever, so it can be appreciated by future generations. It's not art if it doesn't_ last,_ Deidara."

"Well-" Deidara stopped, a voice of one of the many conversations taking place in the room caught his attention.

"-fucking _hot!_ I mean, have you seen the way she walks, it's just like I wanna fuck her on the spot...you don't think she'd mind spending a little 'alone time' with me?" a voice was saying.

"She's got a boyfriend, stupid," said another, deeper voice.

"So? She looks like the type to go on little...'adventures'," said the first voice.

"If only she wouldn't dye her hair that weird bright blue..." said the second voice. The first voice agreed.

_Bright blue hair..._could they possibly be talking about Konan?

"What was her name again...Ko...Konan? Yeah that's her name," Deidara heard the first voice say. "I betcha I could fuck her before the end of the week, she looks like a bit of a slut don't you think? I dunno...but I don't mind much," the voice continued.

Angry, Deidara turned around, facing the two guys that were now chortling loudly. They stopped at the sound of Deidara's voice, which had taken on a new tone: he was beyond furious.

"Hey," he said. "That's my friend you're talking about."

The scrawnier of the two, who had bright green eyes and messy brown hair, spoke and Deidara recognized him as the owner of the first voice. "So?"

Deidara frowned. "What do you mean _'so'?"_

Now the second one spoke. He was beefier and had dark hair that had grown only just below his ears. He eyed Deidara's waist length hair a few seconds. "So what? We can talk about whoever we want."

"No. You can't. You're talking about Konan as if she were some disgusting slut that would fuck anyone," Deidara said, trying to keep himself calm at the sight of their indifference.

"Look," said the scrawny one, leaning closer to Deidara. Sasori had stopped chiseling at the face of his half-finished puppet and turned around, observing. "She looks like a total slut, and you know it. I bet you'd fuck her if you could, too."

Sasori apparently did not know who they were talking about and kept his mouth shut, watching. Deidara, meanwhile, was struggling to keep his temper but at the same time he was confused: _Why_ was he so concerned about Konan? He'd only known her a week. Still, he couldn't stand to hear her being talked about like that. It drove him crazy.

Deidara glared at him, the color rising in his face: a sign of danger. But these two and Sasori did not know him enough to know this. The blonde grabbed the laughing boy by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close. _"Say that again."_ he muttered dangerously.

"Kyo," said the beefy one. "Just stop, you're getting into trouble. And you blondie, don't go and make a scene."

Deidara shot him a dirty look. "My name's not 'blondie', dumbshit."

Kyo grinned. "Hear that? Blondie thinks he's tough because he's defending his slutty little-aagh!"

He fell out of his chair and onto the floor, spilling paint all over his still-empty canvas. Deidara's fist had left a mark on his cheek and he put a hand to it as blood trickled out of his mouth. He glared up at Deidara, who had gotten to his feet, his hands curled into tight fists.

The blonde could no longer think. He was so enraged. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears, the deafening silence that had taken over the not-so-long-ago buzzing room. Deidara stood over Kyo, his chest heaving, his face was red with rage and his body was shaking. How dare he talk about Konan like that? She was not a slut, she was not a whore. She was a perfectly nice person who was a great friend. He didn't know her. At all. How did he expect to get away with talking about Konan like that? Or any girl? No girl deserved that. None.

"Say it again! _Say it!" _Deidara yelled.

"Deidara..." Sasori whispered, but Deidara was deaf to everyone but Kyo.

"You're one fucked up son of a bitch! Shit, I talk about _one _girl and you-"

"That wasn't talking and you _know_ it. You were being disgusting about it, you make me sick! You talk about her like she was some kind of whore!" Deidara shouted.

Everyone was watching, even Narita sensei. She stood in front of her desk, her wide hazel eyes eyeing Deidara with surprise. "D-Deidara-kun. Kyo-kun. This is no way to solve-"

"What the fuck do _you _care?" Kyo interrupted, glaring at Deidara. "She's not your girlfriend! She's that orange-haired weirdo's boyfriend! Or what, did you guys do something and you're afraid it's gotten out?"

Deidara threw himself onto Kyo and began punching every inch he could reach. Kyo screamed, trying to fend him off by biting, kicking, and punching. It was all in vain, Deidara's anger had always been set off quicker than most people's and he'd never really had any success in controlling his it. He took so much pleasure in hurting Kyo. He smiled wickedly as his fist collided with Kyo's mouth and blood sprayed on the floor.

It was now that the rest of the class reacted. People were shouting different things, some were telling them to stop, others, mostly all of them, were egging them on.

Finally, Narita called security and two large, beefy students ran to separate Deidara from Kyo. Despite the fact that Deidara would have been torn apart by these two under normal circumstances, they had to be careful not to get their teeth knocked out while they pulled Deidara off Kyo. It was difficult, as Deidara had suddenly become as strong as them and was still aiming kicks and punches at a bloody and bruised Kyo. They finally pulled them apart, not that Deidara cared. He thrashed around, shouting everything that came to his mind at Kyo, who shouted back.

"You're crazy! You're a lunatic, you're fucking _insane!_ You need to fucking get help, you psycho!" Kyo shouted.

Deidara slipped his arm free, grabbed the small mallet that Sasori had been using, and smashed it against Kyo's face. There was a crack and blood spurted from his broken nose. Someone held Deidara's free hand back.

Deidara laughed."HOW'S _THAT _FOR PSYCHO? HOW'S _THAT_ FOR INSANE? You want more? I've got more!"He bellowed.

Kyo backed away with the help of the person restraining him. He eyed Deidara with fear. The blonde was still trying to get free, raw rage pumping through him. He just wanted to hurt Kyo, to reduce him to a bloody mass. He didn't know why he always grew so angry. Angry to this point, he couldn't control it. What he did know, however, was that once he started, it was difficult to stop.

There was a knock on the door: the security officers had arrived. Someone let them in. Someone said something and the taller, more muscular of the two officers took Deidara from the student restraining him. He slammed him down on a desk, taking the small mallet from his hand and handcuffing him. This was only a security measure, they were not real policemen. The other, thinner officer grabbed an unresisting and nearly unconscious Kyo.

They were led out of the room, leaving the rest of the class to stare in horror at the puddle of Kyo's blood on the floor in which lay the mallet that Deidara had used to smash the other's nose.

"C'mon move," the officer said to Kyo.

"Fuck no. I'm not going _anywhere_ near that crazy motherfucker!" Kyo said feebly.

Deidara whirled around, thrashing around. "What was that?!" he screamed before he was forced to turn around by the officer holding him.

They eventually got to Tsunade's office. They sat in two of the four chairs outside Tsunade's office, waiting. The officers had handcuffed Deidara's wrists and ankles to the chair he was sitting in and he sat there, his face still blood red, his teeth bared, breathing quickly and deeply.

He sat there, trying to free himself from the chair. After several minutes of struggling, he gave up. He pounded his wrists against the sides of the chair, not realizing that he was causing the edges of the handcuffs to cut into his wrists.

He tried to relax for a few minutes and closed his eyes for a few seconds when in reality it was ten minutes.

Deidara opened his eyes again, looking around. Tsunade's office? How had he gotten there? He tried to stand up but he found that he was handcuffed to the chair he was sitting in. What was going on?

"...can't come into your office, Tsunade-san. He's fully restrained," a whispering voice was saying.

"Very well then," Tsunade's tired voice carried from her office.

Tsunade exited her office and came out to talk to Deidara and Kyo. She gasped, looking in Kyo's direction. Deidara winced at the sudden noise and turned to look at what she was so worried about.

Kyo had fainted in the time she had taken to come out, probably from the pain. Dry blood was caked around his nose and mouth, his face was covered in dark purple bruises, as were his arms and the visible parts of his legs that protruded from his shorts. Deidara looked at Kyo in horror, had _he _done this?! What the fuck had he _done?!_

"Call the nurse," Tsunade told one of the officers who were just exiting her office.

They nodded and left running.

Tsunade turned to Deidara, a frightened look on her face. "What's your name?"

"Deidara," the blonde replied, shocked at the sound of his cracked voice.

"Deidara," Tsunade repeated. "D-Did you do this to him?"

Is that why he was here, handcuffed to a chair? What had happened?

Deidara spoke to the floor. "I...I don't...." he stuttered, and he could feel mixed anger and frustration slowly rise up in him, though he didn't know why. He fought it down, wriggling around in his seat, and the handcuffs jingled.

"Don't try anything, you're completely restrained," Tsunade said, actually taking a step back.

"I wasn't," said Deidara, feeling her backwards step as a blow towards him. It hurt when people did these things to him. If only she could see that he had not meant to hurt Kyo like that. _If _it had been him. "I'm not...I'm not dangerous, okay?"

Tsunade left to her office and, just as Deidara thought she had done this because she thought she'd be safer there, she came back with a chair. She sat down about four feet in front of Deidara, clearly not too keen to be close to him, despite her reputation as a very tough woman.

"Now," she said. "We'll wait."

Just as she said it, the school nurse burst into the room with a wheelchair, closely followed by the two security guards that had been sent to fetch her. They helped her sit Kyo onto the wheelchair and then took him away. Then they went to stand on either side of Deidara, as if he were some kind of wild animal. He was getting angry again.

"I'm sorry, but seeing just how badly you injured this student, we have to keep you handcuffed to the chair. It's a security measure to protect me as well as yourself," Tsunade said. "Well, then...can you please explain what happened?"

"I don't...I don't know," Deidara muttered, trying so hard to remember. All he could pull from his memory was walking into the Art classroom and sitting next to Tsunade. What had happened next? He sat, slumped in the chair, trying to put together what had happened after he had arrived to class.

"Are you listening to me? I'm talking to you!"

Deidara looked up. _"YES!" _he shouted angrily, Tsunade flinched and the officers quickly turned to look at him.

Deidara sighed and took a deep breath, trying to control himself. He gave his head a little shake and spoke, "Sorry. I'm sorry...I'm listening."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "You...you can't really control yourself, can you? Are you...okay?"

Deidara turned away from her. "No! I'm _not _fucking okay!"

"I think you may have a problem, Deidara...and I need to ask you something."

Apparently this was more important than what he had done to Kyo. Deidara didn't care, he just wanted to leave. He just wanted to go home, he needed a cigarette. He needed one_ now._

"What?"

"That scar on your neck..." Tsunade said, she seemed concerned. "Where did you get that from, it looks kind of recent."

Deidara winced, not really expecting that question. His head was throbbing even more painfully, he did not want to answer the question. The answer would bring memories more painful than the headache. Way more painful.

He looked away, towards the wall, glaring at it. His mouth was shut tight and he refused to look at her, fearing that his emotions might be reflected in his eyes.

"Deidara, I need to know," Tsunade said. "Is it...is it what's bothering you?"

Little did she know, it was that and more.

* * *

**SUSPENSEFUL!! I can easily say this is one of my favorite chapters!! So many questions will be answered and we'll have Konan's thoughts on the incident once she hears about it. What is truly wrong with Deidara and what will happen to him? Just wait and find out =] R&R please! Thanks!!**


	4. This Is Why I Do It

**Writing chapter three was a lotta fun, hehehe. I despise people like Kyo, really. ANYWAY...Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, which only an emo kid like me could really TRULY understand, rofl. I expect the next chapter will be a bit of a...shocker for you guys ;) Enjoy!**

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"I don't want to talk to you," Deidara grumbled, turning away. "About _anything..."_

"Well then," Tsunade said, slightly annoyed, by the tone of her voice. "I also have to tell you that you'll be suspended for the rest of the week. If Kyo's parents wish to press charges against you, I'm afraid you'll be in even bigger trouble..."

"They can go shove it up-"

"That's _enough," _Tsunade snapped. "I'll ask the officers to release you and escort you home. I have some phone calls to make."

Deidara looked at her fearfully. "You're not thinking of calling my mother?"

Tsunade smiled pleasantly. "I wasn't going to but then...what if they _do_ press charges? I'm not going to look very good then, am I?"

Deidara frowned and turned away from her once more. "Fine, just get me out of here..."

xXx

"Put that out!" Yugiri shrieked as Deidara walked into the living room, a lit cigarette in his mouth."You shouldn't be doing that, it's bad for you!"

"So's most of the other shit I do but here's the thing: no one gives a shit about me," Deidara replied, annoyed. He took a deep drag and walked past Yugiri, who stared at him in bewilderment.

"Don't say that," Yugiri said as Deidara opened a cabinet.

"Heh...why not?" the blonde said, rummaging around the junk in the cabinet. He loved to push Yugiri's buttons, it was like a hobby.

Yugiri sighed. Deidara found what he was looking for, an ashtray. He put out his already finished cigarette and lit another.

"How can you stand that?" Yugiri asked, waving the smoke away.

Deidara shrugged, taking a deep drag. He looked at Yugiri, who stared back at him with the kind of look that everyone he passed on the way to school gave him. Fear. _Why?_ It was not just fear behind those eyes, but someting like...well, there was no word for it. It just made Deidara feel like he wasn't welcome. A stranger.

He must really be losing it if looking into someone's eyes while smoking a cigarette launched him into weird thoughts like those.

It was then that Yugiri's phone chose to ring. He answered.

Deidara walked out of the kitchen and into the living room to sit down on the couch. No sooner had he done this than Yugiri called out to him:

"Deidara, your mother wants to talk to you."

**Yugiri's POV**

He got up lazily from the couch, blew out some smoke, and walked into the kitchen. I handed him the phone and sat on one of the stools that stood around the counter.

"Yeah?" Deidara said, taking a drag and staring at the phone out of the corner of his eyes in annoyance.

I could not hear what Oigimi was saying, but clearly it was not good.

"So that stupid bitch _did_ call you," Deidara muttered, polluting the kitchen with yet another cloud of smoke. "Look, according to her I-"

He was quickly cut off by a loud screaming from the phone. I could not make out precisely what she was saying, though.

"It's...well...will you shut the fuck _up, _woman?! So what I sent him to the hospital, get the fuck over it!" Deidara screamed into the phone, setting his cigarette down on the ashtray and curling his hand into a fist. "I don't even remember doing it!"

More screaming on Oigimi's part.

"I don't fucking...okay,_ okay!_ Look, why don't you go have a bottle and call me back when you're nicer, alright?!" Deidara yelled, hanging up the phone and handing it back to me. He put out the resting cigarette, muttered someting, and left to his room.

Now_ that _was a teenager with a temper.

I returned the phone to my pocket and got up to open a window, hoping to rid myself of the stench of tobacco. God that kid smoked a lot. A _lot._

The officers hadn't been to clear on what Deidara had done when they brought him home a couple of hours ago but I got all the information I needed to know from hearing the phone call.

That blonde was dangerous. And he had a cursing problem. Not to mention a nicotine problem too.

I jumped up, startled, as a loud crash came from Deidara's room. There was a series of thumps as though he was punching the wall mercilessly. That kid needed help. The thumps were getting louder and I could hear him screaming, he was completely enraged. His knuckles were probably bleeding by now, yet he was not stopping, only hitting the wall harder and faster.

Finally, the noise stopped, but was soon replaced by a much louder, more annoying sound. It sounded like they were murdering someone: loud screaming music- how had he not gone deaf from this?

**Normal POV**

Deidara looked down at his bleeding knuckles, furious. The skin was torn and bruised, blood was dripping down his trembling fists. He gave an angry cry and hit the wall again, red staining the white.

_"FUCK!" _he yelled, as pain shot up his arm, making him angrier still. He began to punch the wall like crazy, making a dent and ripping apart the already mangled flesh on his knuckles further. It was coming back to him now, the crazed anger that he had felt while punching Kyo. Anger that was many hours old took hold of the blonde again, consuming him like fire.

It was the pain in his knuckles that calmed him to an extent. He was close to tears, so angry, so angry. But he couldn't cry.

"Only girls cry, faggot!" he yelled. Wasn't that what his father had said when tears had leaked from the blonde's eyes? Wasn't that the _truth?_

But he _did_ cry. He stood, trembling from head to foot, facing the floor with one bleeding fist still on the wall. Hot tears streamed down his face and he hated himself. He hated himself so fucking _much! _Because he always lost control, he always did things wrong! He couldn't help feeling so angry, but he did so many horrible things- he was just like his father! But he didn't want to be..._not like that man._

He was angry that the music was not loud enough to drown out his feelings, it was not nearly loud enough.

He raised his arms and grabbed at his hair, pulling hard. _What the fuck is wrong with me?!_

And his sleeves slid down a little, revealing what most ashamed the blonde about himself. Those cuts. All of those cuts. Straight, diagonal, and crisscrossed, old and new were scattered over his already heavily scarred wrists and arms. He hated them! But then, why did he do it?

There was an answer and the blonde knew but he did not want to answer. Because it was sick and shameful and he was just so fucking crazy...nothing fit. Why was he so angry? Angry with the world, with himself, with his parents...

"Gahh!" he screamed angrily, and then his wrists were bleeding again. He cut again, feeling a tiny bit of calm and joy instead of pain.

_This...this was why he did it..._

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That was overly emotional and wow I was typing at like 100 mph I really got into this chapter!! (And just so you know, I do NOT enjoy using the f-word...not not 'fuck'. The other f-word.) Anyway, R&R plz?? Thanks!! (I just realized this chapter is really short...ah well, the next will be much longer I promise =])


	5. Let's Talk

**Ok, it's like...eleven p.m. and for the past week I haven't been able to get any sleep at all. Sooo...while everyone is asleep, I got bored and went on the computer to type this up. As I told you, this chapter will be quite shocking. Shocking but sweet =] But it is also one of the reasons why the story is rated M. -wink, wink-**

**Thanks to 9shadowcat9 for reviewing!!**

**Enjoy.**

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**On Thursday, Deidara was back at school, feeling tired and depressed. He walked through the halls and heard the outbreak of loud whispers. Whispers about him.

He glared at a couple of gossiping girls standing in a corner nearby. They fell silent and Deidara walked on, dreading the first bell of the day.

The world was clearly against him today, as it was too soon when the bell rang and Deidara headed to Kakashi's class, looking down as he walked. He watched the threads on the rips of his skinny jeans bounce up and down as he walked.

The blonde took a seat next to Konan, putting his head down on the desk. He did not want to talk to anyone. Not even-

"Konan," said Pein coldly, and Deidara felt him walk past the blue-haired beauty.

Whoa. _Beauty?_

What the fuck was he thinking? He must be _really_ tired.

"Nagato," said Konan in the same icy tone. Deidara heard her shift in her seat and he wondered whether they had had a fight.

Not that he wanted her, of course.

A few minutes later, Kakashi was droning on about the founding of Konoha. Deidara couldn't wait for school to end, he just wanted to go home. Or somewhere else, but just not school. It was almost unbearable.

"Deidara, you ok?" Konan's voice broke into his thoughts and Deidara noticed the way she said his name. It was so nice, he like the way she said his name.

"'M fine," Deidara replied, not lifting his head.

"Well, ok," Konan said. "But, hey..."

"Yeah?"

Konan hesitated. "I need to talk to you after school."

_That _sparked the blonde's interest. He lifted his head slightly. "Uh...sure. What about?"

Konan paled. "I'll tell you then. Just met me outside the library..."

Deidara was intrigued, but he said nothing more on the matter and put his head down again.

xXx

When the last bell rang, Deidara gathered up his things and quickly exited the building, heading down to the library where a familiar blue-haired person was already awaiting the blonde's arrival.

"I'm here," Deidara said, feeling somewhat nervous for unknown reasons.

"Alright, well, c'mon let's go to my car..." Konan said, motioning for Deidara to follow.

They walked to the student parking lot and walked over to Konan's midnight blue car. "Hey, um...did you maybe want to sleep over?" she asked the blonde, fishing her keys out of her pocket.

"But won't Pein mind-"

"We broke up," Konan said, opening the driver's seat door. She got in and Deidara opened his door but did not get in.

"You...you did?" Deidara said, and he felt a little part of him dance around with joy but it was quickly shot between the eyes. He shouldn't be feeling that way right? It's not as if he _liked _her or anything...

Konan rested her arms on the steering wheel. "Yeah, but he didn't take it as well as I thought he would." she replied the added, "Now c'mon don't stand there in the hot sun all day!"

"Alright," Deidara said, getting into the car and closing the door. "But I don't have extra clothes or anything."

"Just tell me where you live, I'll give you a ride and you can get your stuff," Konan said. "Just ask your parents first, don't get in trouble..._again."_

So she'd heard about the fight. Deidara wondered whether she knew the full details.

"Yeah..." Deidara said, almost wincing at the word parents. His father was a wifebeater and his mom was a whore...could they even be considered parents?

Yugiri seemed only mildly surprised and interested that Deidara came home only to pick up some clothes. What_ did_ intrigue him was that the person driving the car was a girl. He thought perhaps Deidara had probably got himself a girlfriend. So he was spending the night? Yugiri could only guess what they would do, and he had to say...Deidara didn't really look like one who was a virgin. He chuckled quietly as Deidara rushed out of the house, his backpack emptied of school supplies and refilled with a hairbrush, clothes, deodorant, and his toothbrush.

A few minutes later, they were entering Konan's apartment, which was small, and not to mention pleasantly cool courtesy of the air conditioner.

"Just put your stuff on the couch for now," Konan said. "D'you want something to drink? I've got soda."

"Sure," Deidara said, putting his backpack down and heading into the kitchen.

Konan handed him a can of soda and grabbed one for herself. They sat around the counter on tall, cushioned stools and talked.

"I think...I deserved better," Konan said, taking a gulp of soda.

Deidara fought down the urge to yell out, "YES! Much, much better! You were to good for him!" and instead said, "Much, much better..."

Konan smiled, turning lightly pink. She turned away and set her soda down. "Ooh, c'mon let me give you a tour of the place." she said, quickly getting up.

Deidara abandoned his soda and followed her into the hall.

"Well, this is the bathroom which I love because it's got this huge mirror! Oh, look, let me show you my bedroom," Konan said, walking into the room next to the bathroom. It was the biggest in the whole apartment and the most lavishly decorated.

A large window was on the far side of the room, draped by black curtains that only allowed for a few rays of sunlight to enter, which were thrown onto the (it seemed) new black carpet. She had a queen sized bed, with several fluffy pillows arranged on top of a black comforter. The walls were painted a deep crimson, which made the room look darker than it really was, though the effect was everything but unpleasant.

"I like it," Deidara said, looking around.

"Thanks," said Konan with a smile. "I did it all myself."

Deidara couldn't help but notice how beautiful Konan looked today. Her bright blue eyes looked at him, they were almost the same shade of blue as Deidara's but different somehow._ Happy._ Her plump lips formed a most beautiful smile, her lip piercing glinted in the tiny amount of light that the drapes would allow to enter the room.

And then there was the best thing about Konan besides her wonderful personality, something that had Deidara going crazy between classes so that on various occasions he found himself being escorted to detention for being late to class.

Her slender body with all those seductive curves made Konan a most attractive and enticing young woman.

She was _perfect._

"Deidara? I wanted...to talk to you about the other thing," Konan said, moving closer.

"Yeah?" said Deidara, not really listening, hearing the blood rushing in his ears and the heat creeping up his face.

Konan pushed him against the wall and the minute their lips met Deidara felt like he was in heaven. He replied with such enthusiasm that Konan was lifted off her feet. So this was heaven? Damn, dying was great. Deidara hugged Konan around her delicate waist and stroked her silky blue hair with his other hand. The smell of her perfume was intoxicating, it filled Deidara's head and he was impervious to everything else, so that he did not notice when they fell onto Konan's bed.

Deidara half-sat, half-lay on top of Konan. The blonde felt Konan's small hands dive under his shirt and it drove him crazy.

They broke the kiss only to get their bothersome shirts off and then resumed. Konan wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck and smiled against his lips.

Deidara ran his hands along thes sides of Konan's upper body, feeling along her silky-smooth skin and memorizing every curve. He smirked inwardly as one hand reached around Konan, and his skilled fingers undid the clasp on her bra, which was thrown across the room where it would not bother them anymore. Konan's face flushed as Deidara kissed her neck softly, his hands had gained a mind of their own and were busy fondling with Konan's nipples.

Deidara returned to kiss her and she quickly worked on the blonde's pants. He slid out of them and his boxers while Konan wasted to time in ripping off her skirt and, before she could do anything Deidara, smirking, took her lacy black panties in his teeth and pulled them off slowly.

He quickly returned to Konan, leaving a traul of kisses running down from her chest, her stomach, and still going down...

xXx

Konan's POV

My nose was suddenly aware of the most delectable smell in the world: Old Spice. There was only one person whom I knew that used Old Spice. Could it be-

"Deidara?" I whispered, opening my eyes. I was lying on his chest, which was slowly rising and falling. He was so warm.

I turned and saw that his wonderful azure eyes were closed, he looked so angelic, so peaceful when he slept. I sat up and his arm slid off me, I turned.

What.

The.

_Fuck._

I winced as I ran my fingers along his arm and felt all those slashes on his arm. There were so many. They went from his wrist all the way to where his arm bent at the elbow. They looked deep and painful. I felt confused. He never looked sad, with the exception of yesterday. But apart from that, he was always smiling. Was there sadness behind his wonderful smile? Was he constantly suffering and I was too blind to see it?

He turned and I could see that his other arm was cut up just as badly. How had I not noticed this last night? But then again, we'd both been too...erm..._busy_ to notice anything. He'd probably forgotten all about these too.

I was an idiot. I had never asked him about his past, about his family. The first time I had seen the scar on his neck I had decided it was probably from a surgery and never decided to ask. That's what I hated so much about myself. I never did like to ask too many questions. I didn't like to be questioned so I assumed other people didn't either.

Maybe if I had asked, maybe I could've helped him.

I decided I would ask him. Today. I'd invite him over for the weeked, why not? I wanted there to be a relationship between us, not just sex. I would be proud to call him my boyfriend and I wanted to know everything about him. Good and bad.

I gave him one last look and quietly got out of bed. I stood up and strode across the room, naked. A quick glance at the clock told me school would not start for another six hours. Sadly, I did not get much sleep. It was barely two in the morning. I wasn't sleepy though, but a cold shower would do me good. I opened a drawer and got out a bra when I heard movement behind me.

I turned but found myself in Deidara's warm embrace.

"Where are you goin', so early, hm?" he said sleepily yet playfully.

I laughed softly. "I'm taking a shower."

"That's good, I need a shower too," Diedara said. "Room for one more?"

"Of course," I replied with a smile, dropping my bra into the open drawer.

xXx

**Normal POV**

They barely made it to school on time. The first bell had already rung when they ran out of Konan's car. Fortunately, they both made it to class on time. They would have been on time had they not wasted time playing around in Konan's living room, or had Konan not taken Deidara to his house to grab more clothes so he could spend the weekend at her house.

When the lunch bell rang, people stared at Konan and Deidara, who walked down the hall and out of the building holding hands and looking happier than anybody had ever seen them. Apparently the news of Konan and Pein's breakup had not yet spread very far.

Nobody really seemed to mind, most were just mildly interested on why such a hot girl like Konan would be dating a guy that looked like a girl. Mostly only Konan's disappointed fan boys wondered this.

Deidara's fan girls (and quite a few fanboys. Yes, he had fanboys.) made it a point that they were not at all glad that Konan was the blonde's girlfriend and made it their mission in life to ignore Konan in the rudest ways possible, not that she minded much.

One particular person did mind. Very, very,_ very_ much.

His orange hair danced in the breeze as he sat on the hood of his black car, sulking. He looked up at the sky, his numerous piercings glinted, and he wondered why Konan would go out with a bastard like Deidara. He looked like such a man-whore and had probably "gotten around" with plenty of girls before Konan. She deserved much better.

_Like me, for instance. I don't even know why she broke up with me._

Out of the corner of his eye he could see them, Deidara and Konan. They were getting into Konan's car, and the blonde even opened the door for her. Sickening. What a bastard.

Ok, so he was a _little_ jealous. But only a little, and besides, Deidara did not deserve Konan at all. She was much too good for him.

He watched them drive off and let out an angry yell, taking out his frustration on his new car. Frustration left a dent. A big dent, which would mean more money spent on the stupid car.

"Fuck," he muttered, getting inside his car and speeding off.

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**That was a...loving chapter. Hehehe....Ooh, what is Pein up to? What am I up to? Does it really matter? No. What does matter is your reviews, which make me oh so happy and which earn you all cookies. So R&R =] Arigato gozaimasu!**


	6. Jealous

**Just got done with chapter cinco =] And starting chapter seis. All fucking right!! Blegh, it rained all day and now it got sunny. Ok, seems like the weather officially hates me, ne? Ah well, at least KLAQ is playing good songs =] Aaannyyywayyy, enjoy!**

**(Btw, I listened to Mindless Self Indulgence upon suggestion from I Spaz With Pizzazz in her story Hello Lovely, I Hate You and I freakin loved it! If you guys haven't heard MSI yet, you must)**

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****Pein's POV**

I followed them to a nearby restaurant. Deidara ordered for both of them and they were soon immersed in a seemingly interesting conversation. Konan was pointing at the blonde's arms and he looked at her in disbelief. Was she mad at him for something?

I sat inside my car, the sun had disappeared and it was cloudy so it was not uncomfortable to sit inside it. I watched them and it seemed that Konan was not mad at Deidara. She smiled and he did too. She leaned over the table and gave him a quick kiss. My grip on the steering wheel tightened.

A few minutes they exited, and I had to drive like a maniac to avoid getting caught outside the restaurant. I then followed them to Konan's house.

There was a little over forty minutes left for lunch break and they spent thirty of those in Konan's apartment. They finally emerged, looking tired. They ran into Konan's car and I watched them from afar, having driven across the street when I saw Konan's door open.

I sped off back to school, left my car in the parking lot, and hurried back to the courtyard.

"And where were_ you?"_ said a voice.

I turned and saw Zetsu leaning against the wall. "What the fuck do you care?" I snapped, surprised at how angry I was.

Zetsu went from nice to mean in the blink of an eye. "Why don't you tell me once you pull that stick out of your ass?" he walked off and I did not want to stick around until nice Zetsu came back and apologized.

I stormed into the building, the bell hadn't even rung yet. I didn't even notice where I was going and that, of course, has its consequences.

"Ow!" said a short, red-haired someone as I bumped into him.

"Why don't you fucking watch-oh, it's you," I muttered, stepping back as Sasori rubbed his head and eyed me reproachfully.

"Going a little fast there," Sasori said. "What's your hurry?"

I didn't answer, but apparently my facial expression said it all.

"Ooh," Sasori laughed and that guy hardly ever laughed. "Have you seen them together then?"

"So what?" I said, trying to keep the anger out of my voice without much success.

"So you're pissed," Sasori said. "So I finally find out why he kicked Kyo's ass..."

_Ah..._

That I was interested in too and wanted to use it to change the subject. "Why?" I asked nonchalantly.

"He was talking dirty about Konan," Sasori said casually, leaning against the soda machine.

So there it was. It all came back to Konan and Deidara didn't it? That stupid bastard who took my fucking girlfriend! She'd said she thought we should see other people- oh, she certainly had other people in mind. Stupid blonde people that looked like fucking girls!

I steadied myself, trying hard not to take my anger and frustration out on the soda machine, or Sasori's face. No, frustration left dents. Like the one in my car.

_Shit._

My silence only made Sasori's smirk wider. "What? Why are you worried, you guys are broken up, right?" he said sardonically. He turned to the soda machine, as if realizing for the first time that he was leaning against it. He shrugged, pulled out a crumpled bill and stuck it in the machine. The redhead paused for a moment and then pressed a button. His soda tumbled out and he grabbed it.

He was enjoying this_ way_ too much.

I opened my mouth to say something but the bell rang. "Shit," I muttered, and pushed Sasori aside in an attempt to get to Chemistry quickly without meeting stupid Deidara and Konan along the way. I felt so stupid. He only smirked at me as I walked fast, trying to get to class, trying to forget all of this.

Trying to ignore the burning feeling in my eyes.

xXx

They were already in class by the time I got in, sitting at their usual spot in the back. My usual seat was next to Konan and I was not about to sit next to her and that idiotic blonde. I slammed my notebook down the first desk in the front row and flopped down, staring ahead of me and not looking back. Sasori entered the classroom, smirked, and sat down next to me.

As soon as the third bell rang, Shizune wasted no time in launching into her usual speech about Chemistry. As if the massive amounts of notes we had to take weren't enough, I also had Sasori beside me.

"Why're you sitting up here, eh?" Sasori said, his pen flying across the paper with frightening speed. He wasn't even looking at the paper. "Is it too cold back there?"

I did not answer for a while, struggling to catch up on the notes. "Shut up if you know what's good for you, Akasuna."

Sasori shrugged and returned to look at his paper, his pen was a blur. I finally gave up on trying to catch up with Shizune's lightning fast slide-show and her lecture which was recited at top speed. She made it a point on the first day of school that she would not repeat herself. Ever. You could be deaf and half blind and she would still not slow down.

"You still like her," Sasori said, and he had no idea how powerfully his words hit me. "You're_ jealous."_

I fumbled around, trying to figure out something to say that would disprove this. "I- no...it's just. Konan deserves better than that stupid blonde!"

I saw Sasori's eyes flash the second I called Deidara stupid but did not think much of it. I wasn't noticing small details right now either, I was too busy being as jealous as humanly possible.

"And you think she deserves _you?" _Sasori said coolly. "You guys have been dating on and off for, like....eh, about two years and she always takes you back. I was wondering when she'd come to her senses."

I turned the page of my notebook and began to scribble as Shizune's eyes searched the room for the lazy, the sleepy, and the just plain stubborn. She found none and when she looked away, I put my pen down and turned to stare at Sasori.

"Look. I...I love her and you know it," I stammered. "I don't....I never say that about anyone."

Sasori scribbled down a paragraph in ten seconds and turned to me. "I know. But it's too late, Deidara has her now. And let's face it, he looks like one of those adorable and very thoughtful boyfriends. Were you one of those?"

I smiled. That idiot redhead should've heard the way he said Deidara's name. Hahaha.

"And you can see all of this because you like him," I responded evasively.

Sasori turned as crimson as his hair and was suddenly very interested in catching up with the notes, an easy feat for him, which he made sure took quite a while. He finally answered and it was with an air of unconcern:

"I do not. Besides, this conversation is about you and Konan. Not about me and _blondie."_

"You like him." I whispered.

"No."

"I'm sorry. You love him."

Sasori scribbled down something and then turned to me, shifting in his seat. "I do not! And if you don't be quiet...you can bet I'll do_ that_ again."

_No! Not...not that..._

**Flashback...**

_"So you're here alone, then?" Hikari said, leaning casually against the wall, a wide smile etched on her face._

_"Sadly, yes. If only I had a date, you know," I said with a little wink. Konan was home, sick. One time, one time with this girl wouldn't hurt, right?_

_Hikari giggled softly. "Ooh, but how can someone like you be alone?"_

_"He's not!"_

_We both whirled around. Sasori was standing there, his faked jealousy was quite convincing. He walked up to me._

_"What are you doing?" he asked hotly._

_"Uh..." Hikari seemed as confused as I was._

_Sasori grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into the kiss. Till this day, I have sworn not to admit aloud that that redhead is a great kisser. Not that I liked it, I'm just pointing it out!_

_I was too stunned to react for a while and it was Hikari who broke the silence. She looked at me hatefully. _

_"Idiot," she said and walked away._

_Damn, there went my Saturday night fun. She had such nice legs and I never even got to go near them!_

_I pushed Sasori away, coughing and sputtering. "What. The. FUCK?"_

_Sasori laughed. "Just keeping you honest,_ Nagato..."_ he had said my name. No one but Konan said my name. He was having too much fun torturing me! Damn him._

_He walked away, laughing still._

**End Flashback**

I plunked my head down on the desk much to Sasori's amusement. The amusement of this redheaded, stoic, cold freak. Gah, I hated him. He made me see the softer side in me, the caring one. And I hated that.

I spent the next ten minutes fidgeting around with my piercings. Well, the visible ones, anyway. I removed my ear piercings, put them back in, and drummed my fingers on the table. I played with my lip piercings and watched Shizune write down the day's assignment.

Grudgingly, I opened my book and got started on the work. I couldn't think. I read the same sentence over and over and it was just slipping through my mind without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind. This was frustrating.

I could've kissed the bell when it finally rang, but my heart sank as I realized that I also had Konan, Deidara, and Sasori for the next class. At least I had Itachi and Kisame too. Maybe I could sit between them and get the redhead off me.

"Oh, and by the way," Sasori said, collecting his books and standing up. He headed for the door. "What if I do like him? It's not like I can do anything about him."

_Ha!_

I smirked a little and stuffed everything in my backpack so I could head after him. I knew I could not question him about anything...or I would suffer the consequences. But it was still funny to see the blood slowly creep up his face.

Geometry was not nearly as fun as it always was. I had Itachi to supply me with the answers, but Kisame kept interrupting with the usual dose of idiocy that we were all forced to take every day. It was funny, occasionally, but today it was just downright annoying.

I grabbed his hand and twisted his fingers until I knew that if I continued, they'd probably break. Kisame threw his head down on the desk, crying desperately to let him go. "I'll stop! Fuck, you're- ah, _ah!_ Okay, okay!"

I let go and snatched away Itachi's paper to copy his answers. Two desks away, I knew Sasori was enjoying my foul mood. Not that I had forgotten about his little crush on _blondie-kins._

Deidara said that he had to go to his art teacher to turn in a report after school and told Konan to wait for him in the parking lot. Perfect, I could have her all to myself for at least a good ten minutes.

When the last bell rang, I dashed out of the room, pushing Sasori aside even though he wasn't in my way. Take _that, _redhead.

I waited at Konan's car and saw her approaching. She whipped out her glasses, the ones I loved with the semi-thick black frames. She peered down at a stack of papers, her handbag slung over her shoulder and a pen poking out from her hair, probably held behind her ear. Apparently her ambition to become a doctor would never die. She still took all those extra jobs and classes.

"...diagnosed with angina pectoris and- Nagato? What are you doing here?" Konan said, coming to a halt three feet in front of me.

"I want to talk to you," I said simply.

"Really?" she said, taking that pose that said "what do you really want?". She hesitated and the added. "We're over, what are you doing?"

I stepped forward. "No, what are you doing, dating that idiot?"

Konan's cheeks flushed bloodred, a danger sign. "Just who are you calling an idiot? I hope you're not talking about yourself!"

"I'm talking about that stupid blonde!"

There was a loud smack and then my cheek burned like crazy. Konan lowered her hand and I put a hand to my cheek. "No, you're the idiot and you're stupid! Deidara knows how to treat a girl, not like you! You don't think I didn't find out about...about what you did? _That's_ why I broke up with you!"

I ignored this. "He's not good enough for you!"

"Yes he is! Anybody that's not you is! Now get out of my way, I need to get in the car," she said, trying to calm down, her chest heaving.

"No. Not until you answer me-"

"Answer you?_ Answer you?!_ Answer you...shit, you don't deserve an answer. What you deserve is to fucking be hurt like you hurt me all those times! You deserve to feel pain, and a lot of it! You deserve to be alone and unhappy for the rest of your life!" Konan shrieked. Her whole face was red and I knew she was close to tears. She always cried when she was angry.

"I- I love you! I love you and you know it!" I screamed back. Students were now rushing into their cars and driving away without looking back. I did not want to cause a scene, but she wouldn't understand!

"Really? Because_ I _don't love you!"

"Now just wait a minute-"

"What's going on here, hm?"

_Shit._ He was back. He was back and I had forgotten to make the talk short!

I turned to look at Deidara, who looked slightly annoyed but not angry. "What the hell are you shouting your heads off for? And in the parking lot, too?"

I looked from Deidara to Konan, whose eyes were glittering with angry tears. "Nothing. Nothing's going on," I muttered and walked away.

"Wait," came Deidara's voice.

I stopped but did not look back. "What?"

"You fucking keep away from Konan," Deidara said angrily, and I did not need to look back to see that he was holding her in his arms.

_Fuck..._

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**Pein is jealous ;D Hehehe, trouble's a brewin'! Did you guys like it? R&R please!! Thanks :D**


	7. Haruno The Idiot

**Eek! I must apologize for lack of chappies! Trouble is, my internet got cut off. But I'm back on again =] My new internet sucks so I can't get you guys' names without enduring half an hour of staring at a blank page, so...thanks to all of you who reviewed! (You know who you are!) **

**Ooh, the Anime Convention! I was famous, guys! The only Konan there. Five minutes into the convention, and people were already asking for my picture. (Am I going to end up on some random porn site??) Ah well. It was really, really fun and I'll post pics up soon on Myspace. =]**

**Meanwhile, enjoy chapter siete of Accident Of Fate!**

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**Sasori's POV**

_Deidara._

That handsome blonde was the only person on my mind as I walked down the street through the cool, misty drizzle. I hated Pein, he had only confirmed my feelings for the blonde, something I did not appreciate in the least. He was taken. _He was out-of-bounds!_

Ironically, I smiled. I loved his perfect smile and the way he threw his head back when he laughed. Not to mention he had a great body which I spent a great deal of time surveying. Delicious, delicious eye-candy.

I was jealous of Konan, I had to admit. Not to do so would be hypocritical of me. I was a bit of an asshole and a know-it-all, but I was not a hypocrite. Yes, I was jealous but I, unlike Pein, dared not intrude in the relationship between Konan and that gorgeous blonde. Even if he was the type to make my gaydar beep a little.

Upon reaching my apartment, I found a famliar pink-haired girl standing outside the door of my apartment. She smiled.

All thoughts of Deidara were extinguished and I sighed, pressing a hand to my face. The other hand was lingering outside my pocket, frozen in the process of retreiving my keys from my jeans. I let both my hands drop and straightened up to look at her. "Hello, Haruno," I said stiffly.

I had gotten home late, it was eight-thirty p.m. and I just wanted to get inside for a hot shower. I hated the studio, but I liked making puppets. I just wanted some rest but no, pink-haired Haruno had to show up. Great.

"Hi, Sasori-kun!" she said brightly, waving. She'd come to pester me once again, probably on old Chiyo's orders. I could see that she had recently dyed her hair pink again so that it looked even more chemically damaged than ever, not to mention the considerable amount of heat damage that her straightener supplied. She was wearing a red shirt and black capris and flip-flops. It was September, it was starting to get chilly. Flip-flops, seriously what the_ fuck?_ Besides her lack of fashion sense, there was something else about her. This, however, was harder to spot.

She was wearing makeup.

_Ah._

"Lighten up, will you? You look like you were just force-fed cough syrup," Sakura said, smiling. "Or are you sick, you look pale."

Ooh, calm down, _doctor..._

"Move," was all I said, pushing past her and opening my apartment door with the keys I had finally extracted from my pocket.

I opened the door for her. Might as well let her in, now that she was walked inside happily, looking around, and her expression changed from cheerful to disapproving.

"Gosh, Saso-kun I didn't know you were so..._depressed,"_ Sakura said putting great emphasis on the last word and walking around, surveying my apartment.

It was indeed grim-looking, with no colors anywhere, with the exception of a few buckets of paint, but those were for my puppets, and my hair, which was naturally bright red. Everything else was in varying shades of gray, with the exception of the carpet and my clothes, which were black.

"I'm not depressed," I said irritably. I just...didn't like colors.

"A bit of color never hurt anyone," Sakura commented, now looking at what I was wearing. The usual skin-tight black T-shirt, which was bearing the holy name of Slipknot today. The only thing that alternated in my appearance were my pants. I usually wore really tight skinny jeans or tight skinny Tripp pants. Today it was Tripp and they looked fairly well with my torn up Chucks.

"Yeah, well...I'm not _'anyone'."_ I responded dully.

Sakura just rolled her eyes and plopped down on my couch without invitation. She lay down on it in what she apparently considered a seductive pose._ Repulsive, _more like.

"So," I decided to stop her act dead in its tracks at once. "Is old Chiyo still trying to set us up?"

I crossed my arms and took my "make this quick so I can get on with my life" pose which basically consisted of me leaning to one side on my left leg and putting on an impatient face while tapping my foot.

"Nope," Sakura replied lazily, twirling a pink lock between her carefully manicured fingers. Even so, I could tell one of her nails had broken and some had chipped. Ha. "I'm here of my own accord."

That was surprising. Sakura made her own decision. _Holy shit, worlds are colliding..._

Not to mention it seemed she'd been working on her vocabulary. Pathetic. She was always trying to make herself better. Not that she was ever successful.

"Really now?" I said, raising an eyebrow and taking a step forward.

"Yes, really," she said sarcastically.

I did not answer, but continued to stare at her. Ever so slightly amused by her so-called seductive attitude, I resisted the urge to smirk. Her attitude, however, far from turning me on or anything of the sort, only confirmed that Haruno was not lying: Chiyo had not sent her. She was here because she wanted to be.

"Hm," I watched as Sakura sat up on the couch and looked innocently at me, but there was something else. There was a bit of annoyance behind that slight smile of hers. "So if Chiyo didn't send you here, then why are you here? You can't tell me it's the same reason as always."

She continued to look at me.

"I don't have money," I added cautiously.

"My, my," Sakura replied at last with an abhorrent pout that could have well passed as a grimace. "I didn't realize I was so unwelcome..."

"I merely want to know why you randomly showed up at my apartment. I have the right to an answer, I think?" I said in that smart-ass tone that so annoyed Hidan.

"I'm sorry to say my reason hasn't changed, Saso-kun. I'm here because of you, alright? You know how I feel about you," she replied, getting to her feet and not taking her eyes off me all the while.

I rolled my eyes boredly. Of course. "And you know how I feel about you...and all girls, actually. Or are you hoping it's just a phase?"

Sakura did not reply. She crossed her arms and looked at me, her facial expression unreadable. "Well..."

I actually laughed. "Wow, you're stupid. I've been telling you and that old hag that I'm not interested. Sakura," I said, hoping this would help her see how serious I was. "It's not an excuse or a lie. Get it through your thick skull that I'm gay. The _you-could-rip-off-your-shirt-and-rub-my-face-in-your-chest-and-would-not-get-so-much-as-a-blush-from-me gay!_ I don't even know why you keep trying when you've seen me with my past boyfriends and you know because you've been unfortunate enough to walk in, that I'm not exactly an innocent virgin. And in all of those times you've caught me in bed with someone (because you're too much of an idiot to knock) when has it ever been with a girl?"

Sakura's smile slid off her face so fast it was almost comical. She crossed the room, looked at the wall a while, then turned back to face me.

"Well, it's not fair!" she said after a long silence. "Sasuke...Sasuke went with Naruto...and I never wanted to believe it. You...I refused to believe it too. The only guy who likes me is Lee and I don't like him back!"

There was a note of desperation in her voice. _Ah._ So there it was. Haruno had no love life to speak of which was why she refused to believe me.

Was this why she was wearing make-up?

_Urgh._

And then it hit me. The truth, it was so obvious it was almost funny. How could I not have seen it before? "Oi, Haruno. Quit your crying," I said, hardly daring to believe that I was about to help the pink-haired nightmare. "Maybe you're trying too hard to get guys. Why not get a girl?"

I could've laughed again at the look that crossed her face. But Akasuna No Sasori doesn't laugh...often.

xXx

**Normal POV**

Deidara lay in bed, feeling Konan's slender hands on his chest. Her head rested on his shoulder so that he could hear her slow, even breathing. He brushed his bangs out of his face and stared at the clock.

**11:24 p.m.**

He sighed softly and tried once again to clear his mind.

And there he was.

That stupid Jashinist wouldn't leave him alone! Didn't he get tired of popping into the blonde's head, just to sit there and smile? Deidara found it quite irritating but also quite...pleasant. Strange, too. Ever since the day he had set foot in Amegakure High School, he had been quite sure that he liked Konan very much. Yet...he had never been able to take his eyes off of Hidan.

This _wasn't_ normal.

But, that didn't matter, right? All that mattered was that he was lying in bed with his girlfriend and he loved her. Neither Hidan nor any other cute boys would disrupt his sleep again.

Whoa, had he thought the word _cute?_ Certainly not.

"Fuck..." he muttered, rubbing his face impatiently. He lifted his other hand, which had been resting on Konan's leg and stared at his wrist, whose cuts were healing quickly. He'd promised Konan to stop cutting but the temptation was threatening to win and he did the only thing he could to prevent a relapse: with Konan's help, he had gotten rid of all the sharp things he owned. Which was quite a lot, actually.

Deidara couldn't stand the itch to slash at himself, he was feeling quite stressed. Eager for a distraction, he slid Konan's hands off him and slipped out of bed. All he was wearing was boxers and it was a chilly night, but he didn't really mind. He grabbed his cigarettes and lighter from the bedside table and went out through the kitchen to the small backyard, which was surrounded by a rock wall like all the others. No nosy neighbors.

He sat on a white plastic chair, stuck a cigarette in his mouth, and lit it. He sighed contentedly.

Ah, lovely, lovely nicotine.

It was dark and there was a cool breeze blowing through the trees. It was weather like this that, only a few months ago, Deidara would've chosen to sneak out of the house and gone to a friend's house to smoke. And not cigarettes, either.

But that was behind him, right? The urge to go back to his old ways was stronger than ever, he had never wanted to quit that stuff but...court orders. Stupid court orders.

Loud music erupted from one of Konan's neighbors. The young brunette that Deidara had sometimes seen come out of his apartment to throw out the trash. He was a quiet young man and did not appear to go to school.

Deidara listened to the music, smoking his cigarette and looking up at the starry sky, trying to decide whether he should just go with everyone to the park at lunch time, just to get rid of the temptation. Almost instantly, he decided against it.

Once he finished his cigarette, he lit another, listening to the music. No one seemed to mind, was this an every day thing? Heh, Oigimi would've never allowed it.

But then, she never allowed anything. She was controlling, that woman was. Up until this day, she believed that Deidara had not had so much as his first kiss. He almost laughed at the thought of her expression if she ever found out that he'd had his first kiss a long time ago- and more.

Danzo, on the other hand, wanted Deidara to marry and be out of the house, if possible, before he was twenty. Nice man, Danzo, right? That man had never been careful to put away his "magazines" and they were always strewn all over the house, mostly the bathroom. Charming.

Another cloud of smoke from Deidara's mouth joined the sky and he ran a hand through his hair, trying to relax. The first cigarette tonight had done the trick but now he was feeling as stressed as ever. He dreaded the moment his mother came home and he'd be forced to sleep at home in his bed all alone. He hated sleeping alone. He suddenly found himself wishing that they had moved to Ame sooner, maybe Konan could've been Deidara's first. Maybe he wouldn't have had to wait two years to meet the girl that he would enjoy being in bed with more than once.

Two cigarettes later, Deidara put his lighter down on the plastic table next to him and fiddled with the little box in his hand, poking at the remaining cigarettes which were just waiting to be smoked. He couldn't resist. He lit another and put his head down on the table sideways, stroking his hair with his left hand.

A cold hand settled itself on Deidara's back and he felt it through his hair. The blonde nearly swallowed his cigarette and jumped up, the hand not holding the cigarette balled into a fist.

"Holy shit, you scared me..." Deidara muttered, running a hand through his hair again and taking a drag.

"Sorry," Konan said apologetically. "But, why are you out here in the cold at this hour? And in you underwear, too..."

I looked at her and saw that she was only wearing her bra and panties. "Pfft...look who's talking."

Konan scoffed. "Shut up," she joked. "C'mon, put that thing out and let's go back inside..."

She took his hand and, for a moment, all of Deidara's troubles seemed to have suddenly washed away. He put out his cigarette and followed her inside.

"Now tell me," said Konan, hugging Deidara and looking up at him. "What were you thinking about?"

Deidara kissed her forehead lightly and smiled convincingly. "S'nothing..."

---------

**Hehehe...What does Sasori have planned for Sakura? God, I hate Sakura XD I think you can tell, no? No offense to all of you that like her. I just find her irritating. Aw, he likes Dei! Ooh, what's Dei's problem?? R&R plz! Arigato!**


	8. Memories

**Ok, I just finished editing the previous chapter and am also reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens for my summer homework, which I have foolishly waited until now to start. Interesting book. Hm. I need more soda. Ooh, Jeff Hardy's on T.V. Seeeexy. Hehehe, ok back to the story =] Ah...oh! I remember! Ritsuka-san said to ask you guys to add him on myspace:**

**.com/marcial_the_kid**

**add me too while you're at it if you haven't:**

**.com/hinataiscookie  
**

**And if you wanted to email him for...idk what:**

**Which reminds me...I have not answered his email. I will do that later. For now, I shall edit this chapter so you can all later enjoy it!**

**

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**

"Alright, now the other one," said Konan, holding out her hand.

Deidara yawned and extended his left arm towards her. She took it and began spreading Neosporin on the multiple cuts. "So you were saying?" she said.

They had only woken up a few minutes ago and had begun talking about Deidara's family. The blonde, sensing that Konan would never let the subject die, had no choice but to talk about the painful subject. He sat on the sink of Konan's bathroom, holding still for her.

He tried to remember where he had left off. "Oh, right. So my probation was finally over. Heh, I went right back to all the stupid shit I used to do...joyriding, shoplifting, picking pointless fights. I never went back to drugs though, I was too scared of what my dad would do if he found out. See, he had come back to live with us and my idiot mother took him in. It was hell, the little while he lived with us. He left a few weeks afterward with some other woman..." Deidara said, deciding to skip the story of how he'd gotten the scar on his throat. He winced as Konan rubbed a particularly deep cut on his arm.

Konan, it seemed, did notice that he had left out crucial information. Probably deciding that she'd ask him later, she said, "Is that about the time you got expelled?"

"Yeah. Well, yeah...I'm no good when it comes to controlling my anger and I'd just about had it at home. It also didn't help that I had had to quit doing drugs all of a sudden, right? So I was pissed all the time but at least it was better than the useless junkie I used to be- or so mother dear tried to make me see. I just felt horrible, to be honest. It was one of those days where I thought I was going to kill someone because I had been clean for so fucking long and it was really pissing me off. And this teacher...fucking son of a bitch. Well, he caught me...doing something..." Deidara hesitated. It was not the sort of thing you wanted your girlfriend to know.

Konan sat down on the toilet and smiled slightly. "Let me guess, they caught you sucking face with a chick?"

Deidara turned slightly pink. "Ah...yeah. The point is, this fucking bastard of a teacher wouldn't stop ranting on about 'horny teenage guys' and 'slutty girls' to the whole class and I knew he was just giving that stupid lecture because of me. He kept shooting these death glares at me and I was getting really mad. At first I didn't care but then his comments started getting real specific and soon he would narrow the so-called 'young man' down to me and I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up and punched him right in the face. I broke his nose."

Konan raised her eyebrows, half-amused, half-surprised. "What...what happened afterwards?"

"My mom's boyfriend...biggest idiot that ever existed, by the way, was a lawyer. Mom didn't want me to go to jail or nothing because then who could she beat up and shout at when she was drunk, right? So she managed to convince her idiot boyfriend to worm me out of trouble, and he did. I was fucking pissed though..."

"What? Why?" Konan asked, surprised, pausing in the act of squeezing out more Neosporin.

Deidara snorted. "If you lived at my house, you'd know exactly why. Try coming home and not knowing if you're gonna find your mom with some random guy...or if you're gonna find her at all. Sometimes she'd disappear for days and turn up with some new idiot. I welcomed the idea of going to jail. At least I'd be fed. And I'd have a bed and a roof over my head. That bitch kicked me out so many times I lost count by the time I was thirteen," Deidara said bitterly.

"Oh," said Konan quietly. She screwed the cap back on the tube of Neosporin and replaced it inside the medicine cabinet.

Deidara looked away from her at the mirror and saw his reflection. He really did despise himself for talking about this. It made him sick to look back and see what he was. But then...wasn't he on the verge of going back to his old ways? Weren't the cravings robbing him of sleep? And the fight with Kyo...sending the guy to the hospital was just totally unnecessary.

"But you haven't told me," Konan said, and the blonde turned back to her. "how you got that scar on your throat..."

Upon seeing the look of pure terror on Deidara's face, Konan paled and gasped. "No, no, I mean, if you don't want to talk about it you-"

"You'll hear about it..." Deidara stood up and walked towards the door of the bathroom.

"De-"

"Some other time..."

He walked out of the bathroom and headed down the hall, grabbed his cigarettes and lighter from the coffee table and doubled back so he could walk out to the backyard. Although smoking could no longer calm his nerves, he couldn't really put his cigarettes down. It was sweet, sweet nicotine that kept calling him back.

As he pulled a cigarette from the pack, the blonde realized that he was trembling uncontrollably. His skin was pale and he had known, all along, that the memory of the scar would bring him terror. He was drenched in cold sweat and his hands trembled worse than ever as he lit his cigarette. He tried to calm down but in vain.

Even now he could remember how his father had shouted, and he could still feel the warm blood drenching his clothes. He shook his head as if trying to rid himself of a bothersome fly. He would not go back to that; he did not want to remember. Not now.

And hopefully, never.

Deidara remained outside, smoking and pacing around the backyard. Konan did not come out. It seemed that she did not want to hurt the blonde any further. Deidara wished she would come outside, but at the same time he really wished he wouldn't. He wanted to be asked what was wrong and to remember but he knew he would not want to give an answer.

There was a sudden roar and Deidara looked around in surprise. The roar, to his relief, was nothing more than loud music from Konan's neighbor. Again.

With a sigh, the blonde took a seat on an old creaking swing set that seemed unlikely to hold his weight for long. To his surprise, the rusted chains held him, though the frail-looking metal sank lower into the soft ground.

Fifteen minutes later, Deidara looked up at the sky and saw storm clouds coming. To add to his bad luck, he was out of cigarettes and was still craving for more. His head was hurting rather badly and he just realized he was still wearing his boxers and nothing else.

The music next door grew louder, making Deidara's head pound even more painfully. He was on the verge of standing up and knocking on the neighbor's door and probably knock his lights out but decided against it. Not only would Konan be unhappy, he'd be picking pointless fights again and would get into trouble.

"Oi, lower that music will ya?!" came a loud, growling voice. An oddly familiar voice.

The music stopped abruptly and a muffled, "Sorry!" came from inside the house. There was a slam as the owner of the growling voice went back inside his house and then silence.

That voice, where had he heard that voice? He sat, rocking slightly on the swing set, mulling it over but was interrupted by another voice. This one was lighter, softer:

"Deidara?"

He looked up to see Konan standing, fully dressed, in front of him and looking uncomfortable.

"I, uh..." Deidara stood up and she took a step back. "Listen, I'm sorry I walked out like that I-"

"No, no. I'm the one who should apologize...I just wanted to know about you because I want to help. But...doesn't really seem like I'm getting anywhere," Konan said, looking up at him and then down at the ground.

"And I'll tell you...eventually. It's just these things are really hard to talk about. My dad wasn't exactly Father of the Year, you know, and he did some pretty horrible things," Deidara muttered, looking at Konan. "And don't say that. You've helped me more than anyone."

Konan looked up, surprised. "But...how? I haven't-"

"Oh yes you have, hm. I've never felt so happy in my life, you know. Being with you is the best," Deidara said, attempting a smile. He managed it and Konan wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

"I'm a lousy girlfriend," said Konan in a muffled voice.

Deidara hugged her back. "No. You're not. You're the best girlfriend ever. Not to mention the prettiest..."

Konan looked up at him, beaming. Deidara knew she had been on the verge of tears and kissed her forehead. "Thanks for trying to help...it'll just take a while. Most things like that do." he said.

Konan leaned her head on Deidara's chest. "I know, but...I don't want you to be sad. I hate to see you sad! I want to make it all better."

"Well," Deidara said with the ghost of a smirk. "You certainly can't make it better with the weight of all those clothes on you..."

Konan looked up at him once more and lifted her brow. "We're in the backyard!" she said.

Deidara looked around. "There's the rock wall..."

xXx

On Sunday, Deidara and Konan headed out to meet Sasori, Itachi, and Hidan at the movies. Kisame insisted that he had things to do and Zetsu never really went anywhere. Kakuzu had pointed out that movie ticket prices were skyrocketing and he'd much rather read a (borrowed, not bought) book at home. Pein...well, they just saved themselves the trouble and probably resulting fight between him and Deidara and simply did not ask him to come.

Konan parked her car outside Hidan's house. Hidan, Sasori, and Itachi were already standing outside and ran to the car as soon as Konan parked.

"You're late, motherfuckers!" Hidan yelled, much to the annoyance of an old woman that was unlucky enough to be outside watering her garden.

The woman continued to glare at them disapprovingly as they all loaded into Konan's car and sped off.

"What are you looking at?!" Hidan screamed at the lady, sticking his head out the window.

"Hidan, if you don't get back inside, I will roll up the window!" Konan said reprovingly. She stopped for a couple of kids that were crossing the street.

"Fine. It's your car. I'm not cleaning up all the blood," Hidan said, shrugging, but obeying Konan all the same.

"Stupid sadist," said Itachi under his breath while looking out the window boredly.

Hidan pretended not to hear him and instead busied himself with twirling his Jashin necklace around his fingers.

A few minutes later, they were busy buying snacks. The movie would begin in a few minutes and they were certain to be late: Hidan was causing a scene.

"What?! I gotta fuckin' pay for extra butter?!" Hidan screamed, slamming his popcorn bucket down on the counter and spilling half its contents everywhere.

"Sir, calm down," said the weary-looking cashier. She ran a hand through her sweaty hair. "I'm sorry, but I don't make up the rules."

"Yeah, well...I'm not paying, alright?! I want my fucking butter!" Hidan said loudly and some children standing nearby edged away from him, looking at him fearfully. Not that the numerous scars and fresh cuts on his arms from his rituals helped.

"But I told you, you've got to pay-"

"For the love of Jashin, all I'm asking for is a little extra butter! Is that too much to ask for?! Fuck, I just came to watch a movie...why d'ya gotta complicate things?"

Konan moved forward, looking fed up. She stood in front of the cashier, glowering at her in a way that made Sasori, Deidara, Itachi, and even Hidan cringe. "Give him his goddamn butter...now! Before this becomes the last day of your life!"

And, without protest, Hidan's popcorn bucket was given a few quick squirts of melted butter and was promptly returned to him.

"Now...you!" Konan growled. She advanced on Hidan once they were safely away from the other customers. "Don't you ever make a stupid scene like that or I will rip off your head!"

She grabbed him by his necklace and pulled him close. Hidan paled. "I'll be good."

"Alright then, let's watch the movie," Konan said, releasing Hidan and walking forward.

They moved quickly, leaving Hidan to massage his reddened neck.

A few minutes later, Deidara munched on his popcorn as he tried to focus on the movie. This was proving impossible as Hidan was sitting right next to him and was using the blonde's shoulder as a pillow. He was not the only one, Konan was leaning on his other shoulder and Sasori and Itachi were the only ones not bothering anyone: they were completely into the movie.

Konan was twirling a lock of Deidara's hair between her fingers, not taking her eyes off the screen. Hidan, meanwhile, was trying not to slide off Deidara's shoulder as he was trying to fall asleep.

Deidara chewed his popcorn slowly, watching the man and woman kiss on the big screen.

It was then that a thought occurred to him. It was as if his mind had suddenly replaced the people in the image with him and Hidan. Him kissing Hidan? Somehow, the idea was nowhere near unpleasant and the blonde shook his head and took a sip of soda.

Konan.

_Not _Hidan.

Hidan was a _guy._

_A guy!_

A very _sexy_ guy, too. Of course, he was a little crazy with Jashin this and Jashin that but he was just downright **HOT.**

Deidara shook his head again. Where were these weird thoughts coming from? To his relief, Hidan decided to talk to Sasori and got off of Deidara's shoulder so he could lean across his seat and whisper to Sasori.

"I think the guy's a bit stuck up...but there is no denying that he's hot," Deidara heard Sasori say a few minutes later as the blonde decided to give up on concentrating on the movie.

"They're both fucking hot. And the waiter...well, I'd love to meet that waiter," Hidan whispered back, laughing.

There was a loud "Shh!" and Hidan quieted down but not before whispering. "Fuck you!"

After the movie, they all filed out through the exit and, because it was still semi-dark, could not help tripping over their own two feet. Hidan bumped into Itachi and then stumbled back, hitting the wall. He pushed past everyone else, rubbing his head and cursing fluently under his breath.

Only Konan and Deidara dared to laugh at him and, even so, Hidan looked mutinous. Deidara chuckled at the sight of Hidan wincing as he felt the bump on his head. Apart from the very weird thoughts, it had been a good day. A quite relaxing one, compared to what Deidara usually endured at home. He felt happy.

And a little confused.

xXx

After a quite uneventful school day the next day, (unless you wanted to count Pein going around the school, ready to explode at anyone) Konan gave Deidara a ride home. They kissed and Deidara hugged her then watched her drive off. He turned towards his house, took a deep breath, and pulled his house key out of his pocket so he could open the door.

Just as he was closing the door, there was a delighted scream. "Deidei-kun!" and someone wrapped their arms around him.

"What the fuck?" Deidara backed away, pushing Oigimi off of him and coughing, having been smacked in the nose with the powerful scent of her pungent perfume.

She was back early. This was _horrible..._

"Yugiri's just gone to go buy some groceries...I got back early, but with a niiiice paycheck!" Oigimi said, prancing around the house like a little girl about to get a new doll.

She grabbed her purse and smiled at Deidara. The blonde simply stood there, speechless. Oigimi rummaged around in her bag and took out a cigarette and lighter. Moments later, the smell of burning tobacco reached Deidara's nose and it reminded him that he was still out of cigarettes, which had really begun to irritate him.

"So...so the job's going alright then?" Deidara said at last.

Oigimi nodded, walking into the kitchen and depositing her still-lit cigarette on the glass ashtray that was on the counter. "How did you and Yugiri-kun get along?"

Deidara stared longingly at the cigarette. "We...uh, he doesn't really speak much..."

"Yes, he's kind of quiet. So," Oigimi said, turning to face Deidara, a smirk on her face. "Who was that that dropped you off?"

Deidara raised an eyebrow. "What do you care?" The last thing he needed from this woman was her butting in on his relationship with Konan.

"I heard you slept over at her house this weekend," Oigimi said, still smirking in a way that made Deidara sick. Nevertheless, Deidara thought he could spot something behind her smirk: Was that a hint of annoyance?

Deidara walked into the kitchen and sat on one of the stools around the counter. "Yeah, so what?"

"So who _is_ she?"

"She's my girlfriend," Deidara muttered, swinging his stool around so he would not have to face his mother.

"Aw! How cute!" Oigimi ran around the counter and pinched Deidara's cheek. The blonde smacked her hand away but not before she pulled him into a rib-breaking hug.

"Let me go!"

She finally released him. "Ooh, you slept over at her house then? Suspicious..."

"Think what you want, it's probably right. I know how much you want grandkids," Deidara said sarcastically.

Oigimi made a disgusted face and grabbed her cigarette, took a drag, and placed it back on the ashtray. "You're too young to do that, don't be stupid."

Deidara stood up. "You shouldn't smoke, it's bad for you," he said, taking the cigarette from the ashtray and taking a deep drag. He then reached into Oigimi's purse, took her pack of cigarettes and pocketed it. "Yugiri isn't really fond of smokers, you know."

Ah, how he loved annoying this woman.

He left to his room, leaving Oigimi staring at him, not only in surprise, but in confusion.

--------

**Ooh, I like this chapter. Penguins can fly? Random...Ritsuka-san shared that bit of information with me. Hehehe, how was it? R&R plz. Arigato!**


	9. The Diary

**Yes! Another chapter, right after number eight! Great Expectations is getting a little boring now. Ah well...I guess I'll doodle instead of read. First I have to edit, of course. Oh! I forgot to mention in chapter seven...Ritsuka-san turned 15 on July 9. =] Yaaay. I gave him two giant hand-drawn posters. One of Itachi-san and one of Deidara-san. He almost died of happiness hahaha. I went to his party about four days afterwards and it was really awesome. Though I couldn't drink much because I knew my mom was going to check whether I was drunk as soon as she came to pick me up at 10:00. I was right. She did. But I gulped down a lot of soda and got away with it, hehehe.**

**Anyway...I hope you enjoy this chapter =]**

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**Sasori's POV**

I checked my watch:** 9:43 p.m**. Great, I had once again taken too much time in the Art Gallery, not to mention I had forgotten to stop by the studio. With a sigh, I waved goodbye to Narita sensei, and began packing up my supplies. I looked around the semi-dark room, wondering whether I'd ever finish the puppet that was due next week. I sighed, exhausted, and began brushing wood chips off of my work area and onto my hand. I came across a book and set it aside so I could finish cleaning up the wood chips.

I dumped them in the trash and turned back to my now somewhat clean work station. I picked up the faded black book and stared at it. It had a blank cover with nothing written on it. I turned it over and still found nothing. I opened it and flipped through the pages, which were all written on in neat, slanting handwritting. I raised an eyebrow and looked on the inside of the cover. There, written in small letters were the words: _Here ya go, Blondie. Take care of yourself. -Nana_

That was all. Whose was this?

I stuffed the book in my backpack, deciding to have a thorough look at it later and, if I ever found out who it belonged to, return it to its owner. Eager to get home, I grabbed a wet towel scrap and wiped down my table. With one last wave to Narita sensei, I was out the double doors and heading home.

"Saso-kun!"

Oh no. Oh no. _Oh no!_

I was only feet from my apartment, keys aleady in hand, and feeling relieved to be home. Why did that pink-haired freak have to follow me around everywhere? Hadn't I already done enough for her?

"Haruno, go home," I muttered. "Yamanaka will be expecting you, I believe..."

She hopped out from the next door neighbor's huge potted plant and smiled. "Haha! I just wanted to thank you, silly."

"Yeah, well...thank me some other time. Or...here's an idea. Just a tiny little, idea. Not really important, just a thought: How about you just go away and don't thank me?" I said, already annoyed. "And...yeah, just don't ever return."

Sakura crossed her arms and huffed. "Geez. I'm just being grateful."

"Well...don't be." I said. "I just hooked you up so you'd stop bothering me and I guess it didn't work. What? Yamanaka doesn't keep you busy enough? Wait...don't answer that question."

She rolled her eyes but blushed all the same. "Fine. But I want you to know that me and Ino-chan are doing really good. Thanks. I didn't know I was...well, thank you."

I jammed my key inside the lock and stared at her. "Don't mention it. Now...get out of here, I have homework," I lied.

"Sorry to bother you, Saso-kun! Ja ne!" She walked away happily, humming a happy tune.

_Disgusting._

How did Yamanaka _stand _her?

Once inside my nice (totally not depressing...), not to mention comfortably warm apartment, I locked the front door and went into the kitchen. I grabbed a can of soda from the refrigerator and went back to the living room. Once the lights were on, I flopped down on the couch, grabbed my backpack, opened it, and extracted the black book. I took a drink of soda and set the can down on the coffee table on which my feet were propped up against.

"Let's see..."

I turned it to the first page. No date:

_Wow. I feel kind of stupid for keeping this shit. I don't even know why Nana gave it to me...could it be true that she likes me? That's what the whole school says._

_Wait, why am I writing in this thing? A diary, really...that's just fucking stupid. Yet I'm writing in it. And still am._

_What would Danzo and Oigimi say about this? Heh, I'd bet they would laugh._

_Heh, I like the idea of a diary. Sorta. Kinda. I got no one to talk to except fo Nana. But...I don't know I don't really like talking to her. She scares me sometimes, haha._

_Well, Mahiru finally got here. Fuck, that guy drives like two miles per hour hahaha. I gotta go, guess I'll write tomorrow if feel like it._

_Ja ne._

I stared at the page, feeling more clueless than ever. This gave me no clue as to whose diary this was. I could tell it was a guy though. I just could. It was a relatively short entry. I thought I found something familiar in that neat handwriting, but I didn't know what. I turned to the second page:

_Hey, I'm actually back. Well, I'm just completely hung over today and I got nothing to do besides lie here in bed while Danzo and Oigimi argue downstairs. Oh they're yelling. At least my door's closed and they're not yelling too loudly._

_Well, what to write about? Uh...I don't know. Well, yesterday we almost got caught drinking in Mahiru's basement by his mom. She came down and I just pretended to be asleep and he was I think pretending to look for something. I dunno but she left without saying anything._

_I think Danzo just whacked Oigimi. It sounded like it hurt._

_Hold up, I gotta light up another cigarette._

_Heh, I'm talking to you like you're a person. This is kinda cool. It's like having a friend. Speaking of friends, or actually girlfriends, Rika won't stop bugging me and I think I'm gonna break up with her. I'd usually stay, just for the sex...but she ruined that too._

_Seriously...this is weird._

_I-_

The rest of the page had been ripped from the book, wether intentionally or accidentally I did not know. I flipped to the next page and saw only a small but well-drawn little chibi. There was no label saying who this chibi was or who drew it. I suspected the owner of the diary had, but was still clueless as to who it belonged to.

I sighed impatiently, this was proving harder than I thought. I hated making people wait and I hated being made to wait. But I guess there was no helping it since this person probably did not know me and they probably did not mean to make me wait.

I tossed the book aside and stuck my hand inside my backpack, bringing out the thick Geometry book and a notebook. I grabbed a pencil from my pocket and sighed, mentally kicking myself for being such an idiot and leaving my homework until the last minute. Once again, as it often happened when I got commissioned, I had left all my homework undone and I was now horribly behind on all my work. I cast a reproachful look at the book, silently blaming it for my troubles when I really had to blame the massive amount of commissions I kept getting. I didn't have a choice: I needed money.

I sighed again and opened my Geometry book to the assigned page.

xXx

**Normal POV**

Deidara sat in bed, staring out the open window, wishing he were asleep in Konan's bed with her warm body lying next to him reassuringly. He loved the way that he could turn around in the middle of the night and find Konan's beautiful face there, and he could still smell her perfume on him and it drove him mad that he could not be with her.

There was a soft knock on the door.

Deidara jerked his head in the direction of the noise. "Yeah?" he muttered wearily.

"It's me," came the soft reply, and the door opened, revealing Oigimi in her nightgown. She came inside, closing the door softly behind her.

Deidara turned away from her and continued to stare out the window.

"You should be asleep, Deidei," Oigimi said, staring at the digital clock on Deidara's bedside table. It was 4:30 a.m."You haven't even changed into your pijamas."

Deidara leaned his head against the wall. "I can't sleep in this house. You know that..."

Oigmi sat on the edge of Deidara's bed, her foot brushed up against something on the floor and there was the unmistakable clink of bottles. "You've been drinking again..." she said accusingly, but sadly.

Deidara did not answer but merely continued to stare out the window.

Oigimi sighed and stared around Deidara's moonlit room, which was as messy as ever: papers, clothing, and books littered the floor. More books completely obscured the desk in a corner and his bedside table was creaking under the combined weight of his backpack, a few notebooks, and his digital clock. A broken skateboard had been thrown onto a corner and a bag of sculpting clay was now sitting on top of the halves. A couple of beer bottles now laying on the floor had been added to the mess less than an hour ago.

"How's school?" Oigimi asked tentatively. She was not speaking in her usually cheerful and very much annoying tone.

"Sucks," Deidara mumbled. He sighed and turned to look at his mother's tired face. Without twenty pounds of makeup added to her face, she looked her age and not ten years younger. Not just that, but she looked different...sad, even. "What do you really want? You're not gonna tell me you fancied a talk with me at four in the morning."

"I've been thinking-"

"-that's news," Deidara cut in irritably.

Oigimi sighed. "I've been thinking: It's been a while since I've seen you, well, happy and...I thought- well, Yugiri thought that it would be a good idea to throw a party. I don't know, just a random party and invite all your friends, your girlfriend, my friends from work..."

She eyed Deidara hopefully.

The blonde raised his visible eyebrow. "You came to ask me what I thought about you throwing a party...at four in the morning..."

Oigimi ran a hand through her freshly-cut hair. "Just answer me."

"Fine," said Deidara. "Sure."

She beamed and then, almost instantly, her smile faded. She turned to look at the blonde with the slightest bit of fear. "Danzo called me today..."

"And what did that b- what did he want?" Deidara said, catching himself just in time and managing to keep his tone steady. He did not like talking about his dad.

"He wanted to see us," Oigimi said quietly.

Deidara snorted. "Like hell if Ii'm gonna-"

"I agreed," Oigimi said and it seemed that she wished she hadn't.

There was a very long, very loud silence between them, broken only by the siren of an ambulence somewhere in the distance. Deidara rested his head against the wall and stared out the window, not daring to believe his ears. Did the idiot actually want to see Danzo after all he had done to them? After he had nearly-

"So...?" Oigimi's voice burst in through his thoughts.

"You told him you'd go see him?" Deidara said slowly, not looking at her.

"Well, I told him we'd go see him," Oigimi replied nervously.

Deidara took a deep breath. "I'm not going."

Oigimi did not look entirely surprised. In fact, she seemed a bit relieved. Her expression of relief, however, was soon replaced by one of defiance. "Deidara...you're going."

"Says _you,"_ Deidara said, turning to face her.

Oigimi flushed. "And that should be enough."

"No. What should be enough is all the times he hit you, pushed you down stairs, and the baby he made you loose," Deidara retorted, breathing very fast.

Tears sparkled in Oigimi's eyes and she blinked them away impatiently. "He's a new man!"

"And you believe him- he tried to kill me!" Deidara almost yelled. He fought the impulse to shake her, to make her see what a horrible man Danzo was.

"He-" Oigimi's voice died and she ran a hand through her hair again, looking around the room. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "You're drunk."

Deidara rolled his eyes. "And you're stupid," he said.

"Don't go back," Oigimi whispered, and Deidara knew what she meant.

"I'll try," he said wearily.

"Please. And...just go see him. Maybe...maybe you can make up," Oigimi said.

"I don't want to see him. I just wish him a lot of pain and suffering," Deidara said. "That man's not my dad."

Oigimi stood up and walked towards the door. "I want you in bed, in your pijamas in five minutes," she said in a voice that was not hers. "And you will see your dad on Thursday. That's final."

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**Dun dun dun! We'll finally meet Deidara's dad! Although I do not believe that is something to celebrate...Anyway, R&R por favor! Muchas gracias =] Ja ne!**


	10. I Don't Want To, You Can't Make Me

**Gah, I just got out of my Akatsuki cloak...it got really hot in there. How do those people survive?! I betcha Hidan is glad a good part of his got ripped off. And so are all the fangirls...hehehe. Eek! Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is out and I'm dying to go see it. Quite literally, actually. Every second I'm not at Carmike's kills me...Ah well. **

**Hehe, enjoy.**

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"Are you really going to go see him?"

Deidara poked at the mush on his tray that was supposed to be something edible. A little blob of it flew across the table and landed in Kisame's tray. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

Konan opened her milk carton. "No, I guess not," she said thoughtfully. "Unless..."

"Hm?" Deidara looked up at her, ignoring Kisame's disgusted complaints. "Unless?"

"I mean, unless you just don't go."

The blonde turned back to the mush and glared at it, as if blaming it for his problems. "I wish I could manage that. You don't think I can sleep over at your house today? I can't stand being home...can't sleep either..."

Konan eyed the bags under Deidara's eyes and smiled. "I can see that...of course you can, I still have some of your clothes from last time."

There was a splat and everyone looked around to see that Pein had squeezed his milk carton so hard that it had burst. Milk was running down his hand and dripping onto the table. He threw the empty carton onto his tray and walked out of the cafeteria, muttering darkly under his breath.

"Jealous..." Deidara heard Sasori whisper.

Just then, a certain white-haired person ran into the cafeteria and sat down besides Deidara, panting. Deidara's stomach did a backflip and he suddenly found that he was not the least bit hungry anymore.

"What's up with you?" asked Itachi, who was busy cleaning his glasses.

"Pein...car...saw me..._boom!"_ Hidan said, gasping for air.

"'Boom?'" Sasori repeated.

Hidan stole Kisame's milk carton, opened it, and downed its contents in one gulp. He sighed and spoke, "I was playing this prank on Pein, right? Well, Zetsu was in on it too. We were just drawing on the windows of his car and Zetsu was saying that we should move the car somewhere else in case someone saw us. So, I dont't know how Zetsu does it, but he got inside the car and managed to drive it without using keys, only Pein was coming into the parking lot and Zetsu panicked and drove it backwards so that instead of going out through the exit, he went out through the entrance and he went over those spikes on the floor and there was this little boom and the tires went all flat. Pein saw me and I ran for it!"

A long silence followed this and Kisame chose to break it.

"So...you left Zetsu there?"

"I left...oh...shit. I_ did," _Hidan muttered.

They did not see Zetsu or Pein the rest of the day so that, by the end of the day, Deidara felt at least a little bit less stressed that Pein had not been glowering at him the whole day.

The drive to Konan's house had become unusually short now and, when they walked in through the door of Konan's apartment, the blonde felt safe. He felt at home.

"You want anything to eat?" Konan said from the kitchen.

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry, hm," Deidara replied, flopping down on the couch and closing his eyes. He rubbed his face with such force that his skin turned bright red for a couple of seconds.

A few seconds later, Konan appeared at his side, handing him two aspirins and a glass of water. "Here, you don't look so good," she said, smiling slightly.

"Thanks," Deidara swallowed the pills and then laid back on the couch. Konan took the empty glass from him and set it down on the coffee table.

She sat down on the couch next to him and took his hand in hers. "It'll turn out okay," she whispered, stroking his hand in a way that made Deidara feel relaxed.

"I hope you're right," he muttered.

There was a flash of light from outside and then, a few seconds later, the sky gave a tremendous rumble. Konan looked at the window. "It's going to rain," she said, and stood up to close it.

"Excellent," Deidara said with a faint smile. He sat up on the couch and rubbed his eyes.

Konan said nothing and went into the kitchen to grab a soda. She came back and sat down on the couch next to Deidara. There was a click and then a fizzing sound as she opened her drink. "Are you doing alright?" she asked.

"With which of the many problems I've got?" Deidara replied, almost jokingly.

"Uh...all of them, actually," Konan said, taking a sip and smiling a little.

Deidara gave a frustrated sigh and the smile faded from his face. "Terrible."

Konan set her soda down and took Deidara's arms: no new cuts. "At least you're not...well, you're making progress. What's bothering you, tell me."

Deidara sighed and curled up on the couch like he had done so many years ago during nights when his dad had gone out to drink and his mom had locked herself in her room to cry. He almost expected to hear Oigimi's sobs coming from the hallway. "It's this...stupid idea of my mom's that's been bothering me the most. I don't want to go see him."

"I don't want you to go see him either, it doesn't sound like he was a great person to grow up with," Konan said, eyeing Deidara closely.

Deidara felt the scar on his throat with a finger and glared at the coffee table. "No. He wasn't."

Konan opened her mouth to speak but then closed it. Deidara suspected he had wanted to question him about the scar but had thought better about it.

They sat silently for a couple of minutes before Konan spoke:

"You're lucky, you know..."

Deidara looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why?"

Konan almost smiled. "I'm not saying your parents were the greatest...but at least you had them. Mine died in the war when I was little...I saw it happen..." her voice was free of any emotion. Deidara stared at her and could see that her eyes were quite dry.

"I'm sorry," Deidara said and he could think of nothing else.

This time, Konan managed the smile. "It doesn't matter, I learned to take care of myself. I found myself this apartment and the landlord, who knew my parents, doesn't charge me rent. He says as long as I stay in school and don't get into any trouble, he won't have a problem with me not paying the bill. Saved my life, he did."

Deidara said nothing, he ignored the shooting pains in his head and forced himself to keep his eyes open. The aspirin wasn't working.

"You...you've never thought of running away from home?" Konan said quietly, looking at the blonde.

With great effort because of his throbbing head, Deidara answered her question. "I never had to. Got kicked out at least twice a week, every week. I think I've set a record, I haven't been kicked out since we got here."

"What was the longest you were gone?"

"About a month," Deidara said, blinking slowly. The pain in his head was becoming unbearable.

"Where did you go?" Konan said, and her voice sounded slow and distant. She seemed to be fading in and out of focus.

Deidara blinked, trying to focus on her and everything started dimming.

"Deidara?" came Konan's voice from a thousand miles away.

Deidara tried to answer but he was already sinking into the darkness...

_"Deidara! Deidara open the door!" Oigimi's terrified voice pleaded._

_Deidara dropped the beer bottle that he had been drinking from and hid his face in his hands. He sobbed and shook his head violently. "Stop it! Both of you!" he screamed._

_There was a thud, Oigimi screamed, and then silence. A few seconds later, when Deidara thought it was safe to lower his hands, someone was hammering on the door and it was shaking horribly. Terrified, Deidara got to his feet drunkenly and swayed on the spot, he mustered all his strength and steadied himself so that he could find a place to hide. The closet? He would fit inside it, and it was dark. Yes, the closet._

_Slowly, almost dreamlike, he walked to the closet, wrenched open the door, and crawled inside. He stared at the doors for a few seconds while Danzo continued to hammer on the door. Finally, Deidara reached up and closed both doors. He sat, huddled in a corner of the closet, trembling._

_Then there was a loud crack as the door was ripped from its hinges and came tumbling down with a thud._

_"You can't get away!" Danzo yelled in a singsong voice._

_Unfortunately for Deidara, he had had too much to drink and he was feeling sick to his stomach. He couldn't hold it in any longer: he stood and vomited all over the floor of the closet. He groaned and spit on the floor, grimacing. He was just wiping his mouth when the closet doors opened and Deidara found himself staring at Danzo, who looked deranged._

_"No..."_

_"Oh, yes! Found you!" Danzo laughed, grabbing Deidara by the neck of his shirt and lifting him three inches off the ground. "Happy to see me?"_

_Deidara said nothing and stared at Danzo, horrorstruck._

_"Oh no, you're drunk! Very, very drunk," Danzo said. "Well, what do we do about that? I think a punishment is in order!"_

_He whipped out a pocket knife from his pocket and with a click, the blade shot out. Deidara stared at it, hoping for some sort of miracle that he knew, even being this drunk, was never going to come. He shook his head furiously but Danzo nodded, a disturbing smile playing on his face._

_"What would you say..." Danzo said slowly, putting the blade up to Deidara's throat. "If I...let this slip?"_

_He ran the blade softly over Deidara's throat, his smile growing wider. Deidara stared up at Danzo, right into those cold, tunnel-like eyes of his that made Deidara shudder. "Don't...please..."_

_"Shh. You know, deep down...that you deserve it. That whore that calls herself your mother was fucking some other idiot and you didn't tell me! Both of you are liars! You're both dying tonight and there's no stopping me!"_

_"No...no, please...!"_

_The blonde was paralyzed with fear. Danzo's smile faded and was replaced by a scowl. "Shut up! You're worthless! Worthless! Don't fucking lie, you knew! You knew! Ooh, you don't know how much I'm gonna enjoy sticking this in your stomach and ripping your guts out!" he laughed hysterically._

_The room was fading before Deidara's eyes. He blinked and knew he would have to stay conscious for this._

_"I'm going to watch you bleed to death...then I'm gonna cut up your body into little pieces and dump them in a river! Sounds like fun, no? I'd totally ask you to join in the fun but you'd be dead....unless you want to help me with your dear mother before I finish you off?"_

_Deidara shook his head again._

_"No? Well then, I GUESS I'LL DO IT MYSELF! I'M GONNA GUT YOU AND SIT HER AND WATCH YOU BLEED AND CRY AND I'M JUST GONNA WAIT 'TIL YOU DIE!"_

_He made a quick movement and Deidara's eyes shot wide open as he felt a blade run through the skin on his throat. He was suddenly in excruciating pain and the only other thing he could feel was the warm blood gushing down his chest. Danzo released him and Deidara fell into a heap at his feet, struggling to breathe._

_"You're gonna- hey! Where d'ya think you're going?" he shouted, and sprinted out of the room after Oigimi who, it seemed, had regained consciousness._

_Panicking, Deidara put a hand to his bleeding throat and applied pressure in an attempt to staunch the flow of blood. His other hand reached into the pocket of his jeans and then his fingers acted of their own accord, dialing._

_There was a voice on the other end, but Deidara could not register what it was saying._

_"H-Help...help..." he murmured. He could feel his throat filling up with blood and coughed, spraying the floor with bright red specks..._

"Deidara! Deidara!!"

Screams of horror rang in his ears and someone was slapping his face very hard. He was suddenly aware that the screams were coming from him and he stopped abruptly, heaving a great sob. He opened his eyes and noticed that Konan was standing over him, not Danzo and ther was no blood on his chest, only cold sweat.

"You're awake! What's wrong?!" she cried, pulling him into a tight hug. He noticed that he was on the floor of Konan's living room. Had he passed out?

Deidara took in great lungfuls of air and tried to steady himself: he was shaking horribly. "I saw it...I saw it again...Not again!"

Konan looked scared. "Deidara, you just fainted and woke up screaming, what's wrong? What did you see?!"

Deidara took a deep breath. There was no avoiding it, he'd have to tell her.

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**That was...wow. Believe it or not, I had a lot of fun being Danzo, although I do not enjoy what he did. I'm a freak, I accept it. =] But, ah, the secret is revealed!! Heheh, R&R! Merci beaucoup! Au revoir!!**


	11. Daddy's Boy

**I finally had a chance to be on! The weekend was a busy one and all week I'm going to be at GEMS, an Army sponsored program at White Sands Missile Range at their Research Laboratory for...Survivability and Lethality is what I think it was called. Yeah, it was. It is a truly amazing program though I don't plan to join the army or be affiliated with them in any way, but I get paid 100$ just for going and it's pretty damn fun, so it's all good =]**

**It's almost my birthday, yay =] August 16. I'm gonna be 15!! (Finally .) Hehehe.  
**

**AND my internet will get cut off somewhere around August 17, because mother dear decided to cancel her bank account and well, yeah, the internet people can't withdraw any money from a nonexistent account. So I will be missing for a while, and will probably have to use the school computers. I probably won't get internet until September or October, I cannot be sure.**

**Anyway, I want to thank you all for reviewing, and let's get on with the story! Enjoy!**

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Why does it seem that when you're dreading something, time starts to behave a little mischievously and goes faster than it should? Thursday arrived surprisingly fast, a cloudy and cold day. According to the weather forecast, Amegakure would soon be seeing the first snowfall of the year. Far from making Deidara happy, the news was just something more to dread for the blonde.

Konan dropped off Deidara in front of his house, wished him good luck, and drove off. Deidara sighed and was about to take out his keys when the front door burst open.

"Oh! You're home already," Oigimi said, smiling. "Well, then, let's go."

Deidara waited until she had her back turned to him so that he could mouth various obscenities to thin air. Reluctantly, he stepped into the car and slammed the door closed, determined to show he was not pleased about meeting the man that had almost killed him.

"It'll be fine," Oigimi said, closing the door as she got in.

"_Sure_ it will," Deidara said, his voice dripping sarcasm.

The ride to the restaurant was a long one, not to mention a boring one. Deidara would've been glad to see the parking lot of the restaurant had he not known who they were meeting inside.

After taking in Deidara's appearance with a critical look on his face, the waiter showed them to their table, where a familiar someone was already sitting. A woman was sitting on his left. Her dark hair had been cut just below the ears and she had piercing green eyes. She wore no makeup, but this suited her. She was the first to turn and, upon catching sight of Deidara, turned away in disgust.

"You came," Danzo said, his expression unreadable. He did not stand to greet them, but merely stared at them as they took a seat.

Deidara took the seat in front of the dark-haired woman, wanting to be as far away from his father as possible. She didn't look pleased. Oigimi sat in front of Danzo and looked down at the table, fumbling around with the clasp of her purse and determinedly avoiding Danzo's eyes.

Another waiter approached them and handed them all menus. Deidara declined his and went back to staring at the salt shaker. He could sense the woman's eyes surveying him from the top of her menu. He quickly looked in her direction, glaring slightly, and she quickly looked away.

"This is Kaori," Danzo said, turning Oigimi's attention to the dark-haired woman, who smiled. Oigimi returned the smile only because she felt like she should, her azure eyes settling back on Danzo in an instant. "I've told her all about you, Oigimi."

"Pleased to meet you," Oigimi said softly, not meeting Kaori's eyes.

Kaori did not respond, but kept throwing dirty looks in Deidara's direction.

"And this is my...this is Deidara," Danzo said, and it made Deidara furious to hear how he had been introduced. He'd rather not admit that Deidara was his son, then.

"Your _son_," Deidara said stiffly, not facing him and glaring now at the cover of Oigimi's menu as if hoping it would burst into flame. It didn't.

Kaori stared for a few seconds at Kaori. "Pleased to meet you, Deidara."

Deidara turned to face her. "Yeah..._whatever_," he added under his breath.

A few minutes later, the same waiter that had brought them their menus, came back to take their orders. He took the menus and walked away, tucking his pen behind his ear for safe-keeping. Oigimi watched him leave and then turned back to Danzo.

"So...so what brings you to Ame?" Oigimi said, drumming her fingers on the table lightly. Deidara suspected she did not want to ruin her manicure.

"Kaori-chan wanted a change of scenery...Konoha was too sunny for her liking," Danzo said.

Change of scenery? If that was true, and Deidara doubted very much that it was, he would break up with Konan. Deidara looked at Kaori again and saw that this was not the woman Danzo had left Iwa with. The other one had been much, much younger- and a redhead. He knew Oigimi would not realize this: the night Danzo had left, Oigimi had been very drunk. He decided not to mention it to her...just yet.

"Ame has much cooler weather. It's relaxing," Kaori said. "What about you, Deidara? Do you like it here?"

Surprised at the sudden question, Deidara merely stared at Kaori for a few seconds before answering. "Kind of...not really."

She raised her eyebrows and turned away.

"He's just having some trouble adjusting," Oigimi said with a small smile. "But he's got himself a girlfriend already!"

_You idiot bitch..._

Deidara's eyes flickered to Oigimi and he did not want to know what Danzo's response to this would be. He really hoped he wouldn't care.

He was wrong.

"Oh you do, do you?" Danzo said softly, turning to Deidara. The blonde quickly lowered his eyes, afraid to look up at the older man.

"Yes," he replied forcefully.

"And who is she?"

Deidara hesitated. "Her name is Konan..."

He saw Danzo's face pale at the name, and could not understand why. The man quickly recovered from this and just turned away, striking up an entirely different conversation with Oigimi and Kaori.

When the food arrived, Deidara excused himself and went to the bathroom. He didn't really need to go, he just wanted to get away from the table. He couldn't stand being near Danzo any longer. He practically ran inside. It was empty. He rushed over to a sink, flipped his hair out of his face, and began washing his face with hot water. The blonde turned off the water, grabbed a paper towel, and scrubbed his face, leaning against the wall.

"I never should've come...should've ditched school or something," Deidara muttered, his voice muffled beneath the paper towel that he was pressing to his face. He crumpled it up in time to see Danzo stepping into the bathroom.

Deidara froze instantly and fell into an even worse state when he saw Danzo approaching him.

"You haven't changed at all, you _disgust _me," Danzo said, looking around to check that the bathroom really was empty. "Should've seen the look on your face when you saw me..."

Deidara remained silent, hoping nothing bad would come out of this.

"Who is your mother seeing?" Danzo asked.

"No one," Deidara heard himself say.

"'No one'," Danzo repeated. "Bullshit. Who is she seeing?"

"I told you, no one!" Deidara said. He was unsure as to why he was lying for Oigimi, but he continued to do it anyway.

And Danzo punched him. Not that hard of course, but still, blood trickled from the corner of Deidara's mouth. In a matter of seconds, Deidara was plunged into countless flashbacks of the abuse he had suffered from Danzo. His body went rigid, and all he could do was stand there, looking at Danzo, who seemed to realize what he had done and looked even angrier than before.

"You keep your mouth shut around your mother about this," he growled, and left the bathroom.

When Danzo left, Deidara was still standing in the corner of the bathroom, frozen with fright. Slowly, he was able to move, and he hastily wiped the blood off his rapidly swelling lip.

The table was a long way from the bathroom but there was an exit about halfway there. Deidara quickly made up his mind. He was going to leave, he didn't care what Oigimi said.

"Son of a bitch..." Deidara muttered darkly under his breath, walking outside as fast as he could. To his surprise, it was extremely cold outside now, and a breeze was blowing, which only made it worse. "Fuck..."

He took out a cigarette and stared at it for a while before sticking it in his mouth. As he fumbled around with his already numb fingers for his lighter, he suddenly and silently wondered whether he'd ever be able to quit smoking.

* * *

**I don't like Kaori. She should go crawl into a hole and DIE. Hahaha. Ugh...I just stained the keyboard with charcoal because I was drawing and now the whole desk is messy and I don't know what to do!!! But you know what YOU can do? R&R. Hehe. Thanks!**


	12. Not My Day

**Hallo. School will soon be starting and I don't want to have to wake up early. I want to run around the house in pajamas and then get yelled at for it. And it's now I realize I hate summer vacation but I don't enjoy school either, so what the hell? Haha, anyway. Enjoy.**

**

* * *

**

**Pein's POV**

_"Stop it, you're being an idiot-"_

I shut my phone closed and threw it onto the passenger seat, silencing Hidan, who was probably staring at his phone angrily right now. I didn't care. I would deal with him later. A voice in the back of my head told me he was making sense. Imagine that- Hidan the Jashinist making sense! _Crazy._ I decided he was wrong, though, and proceeded to knock the little voice out cold. That would keep it quiet for a couple of hours.

I parked my car outside the large apartment building and hesitated before getting out of the car. I gripped the steering wheel hard until my knuckles turned white. After a couple of minutes, I got out, slamming the door behind me.

I practically ran up the stairs and had to restrain myself from banging on the door. Instead, I calmly knocked on it.

"Coming, coming!" came the muffled voice from within.

I heard the clicking of locks and then the door opened. A most delectable scent escaped from inside before she poked her head out.

"Dei- oh, uh...hi," Konan said, trying to conceal her disappointment. So she had been expecting the blond idiot. Wonderful. Just _fucking_ wonderful.

"Can I...can I come in?' I asked, taking a step forward.

"Sure," said Konan, going inside and leaving the door open for me.

I walked inside and closed it, squinting against the lights. It was somehow brighter in here than it was outside. I walked around, hot anger bubbling in the pit of my stomach at the sight of various of Deidara's possessions lying around the house. They were not forgotten things. He had stayed here before and would probably be doing it again soon. I tried hard not to think of this as I politely declined Konan's invitation for a drink.

She rummaged around in the fridge, brought out a jug of orange juice, and began hunting around for a glass.

"I've missed you," I said, sitting on one of the stools around the counter. I watched as she paused, for the tiniest amount of time, before wrapping her thin fingers around a pink cup and putting it down on the counter. She began pouring juice into the cup, not looking at me.

"So...so you just thought you'd come and tell me this, did you?" she said, replacing the jug of juice back in the refrigerator and grabbing her cup once more. She did not sit on a stool, but looked at me as she sipped her juice while leaning on the refrigerator. Her eyes had lost that sort of sparkle that they usually had when she talked to her idiot boyfriend. They looked somewhat distant as they came to rest on me.

"Well, I was hoping we could talk it out-"

"No."

I looked at her, my eyebrows so high up they were in danger of disappearing into my hair. It was not the answer I was expecting, nor the tone I had imagined.

"Konan," I said.

She lowered her cup and stared at me. "Nagato."

I hesitated, then, almost suddenly I uttered the words that I had been holding back since the minute I had arrived. "You don't like him! Why are you with him, you know you don't _like_ him! Are you...are just using him or-"

_Smack!_

My cheek burned and I had to force myself to look back at her. She looked livid, her face was scarlet and her nostrils flared. "Just because I dumped you doesn't mean I can't like anyone else!" she shrieked.

"Right, because you expect me to believe that you actually _like_ that blond idiot!" I yelled back.

"It's a shame you think so highly of yourself because so far, that _'blond idiot'_ is much better than you in everything!" Konan spat, setting her cup down on the counter with such force that she slopped juice everywhere. It drenched her entire hand and began to collect in a puddle on the counter, falling with a steady drip-drip.

"And what exactly is _that_ supposed to mean?" I asked coolly.

Konan smiled, which did not match the cold look in her eyes. "Only that he's a much_ bigger_ man than you, if you get my drift..." she replied, walking past me and to the front door.

_Wait...what?! Had she just-_

"Leave," she ordered. "Now."

I looked at her and knew there was no point in arguing.

_Stupid Hidan_, I thought as I heard the door slam shut behind me. I walked down the steps._ You were right._

xXx

**Sasori's POV**

I gave her a weak smile as she took the see-through case that held the newly completed puppet that had taken so long to make. I took the money in my hand and pocketed it, waiting as she stared at the puppet, looking thoroughly satisfied by my work.

"You'll stay for dinner?" Ayame said fondly. Behind her joy I could spot a bit of sadness when her eyes rested on my dark clothes and skinny frame.

I hesitated. "I...I really should study for the upcoming exams," I lied. "Otherwise I would..."

I watched as her face fell, almost comically. "Of course, school's always first, Sasori-san. But you'll be here next week to receive the new order?"

"As always," I nodded and she led me out of the house.

"Thanks again, you're a life-saver, you are," Ayame said, standing at the door. "So young and already having to work! I don't suppose your parents mind, though? Proves you're a responsible boy."

I felt a horrible pang in my stomach at the mention of parents. I quickly pulled myself together. "Y-yes, ma'am. They're proud, not to mention glad I can help out with the bills," I replied.

She smiled. "You're sweet," she said. "Now, you'd best get home quickly. I've been watching the news and it seems we're going to have some snow."

I tried to smile back. "Alright then, bye..."

She waved and closed the door softly, but I somehow knew she was still standing at the door, hoping to hear my footsteps coming back to her door. As I walked away and down the stairs, I knew she had retreated into the kitchen, disappointed at the sound of my fading footsteps.

Once outside the building, I looked up at the sky. Just as Ayame had said: it looked like it would soon snow, which meant that I had two options. I could either get home really fast, preferably catch the bus, or walk at my normal pace and arrive home so cold I could barely feel my hands and feet and with snow in hair. I decided the first option sounded so much better.

Unfortunately for me and my brilliant plan, I had suddenly become a bus repellent and could spot no buses around. After ten minutes of waiting, I felt a snowflake land on my cheek and decided it was time to run home.

Running.

In the snow.

I must've been _crazy._

Barely half an hour later, the snow was already coming down hard and the streets were now completely empty except for the few people who, like me, did not own cars and were trying to get home as fast as the slippery concrete would allow them to. I slipped a couple of times on the ice but regained my balance before ever hitting the ground.

The snow was falling faster still and, all of a sudden, an image forced itself into my mind.

Konan and Deidara, curled up under blankets, warm and together. They smiled and kissed.

I stopped walking, a low hiss of anger escaping my numb lips. That wasn't funny, that wasn't cute! It was...it was-

_What he deserves,_ said a small voice in the back of my head. _And you're _not_ to take that a way from him._

"Shut up, will you?" I said loudly, before realizing I was talking to myself. Feeling like an idiot, I began to walk...and then run. I was running, not from the snow, but from the horrible image that had appeared in my mind, and little did I know that nothing of the sort was actually taking place at this moment.

I could see my apartment building now and, as I looked around, I could also see that all the shops had closed down, no doubt as a quick response to the oncoming blizzard.

I ran faster.

But I also forgot to look out for slippery spots.

I didn't find them but one of those little fuckers sure did find me.

And I fell. Down, down, down, until my whole body hit the cold concrete and I was cursing fluently under my breath. I could've sworn I heard a crack. I rolled over on my back and was suddenly in excruciating pain. For a second the pain was too great to know where it was coming from, but then it subsided every so slightly and then I knew it was my right arm that hurt.

I tried to stand up but when I used my arms to push myself up, pain as I'd never felt before ran through my arm and I was forced down onto the ground again, straining not to scream. Slowly, one-handed, I got up and began to walk across the street and into the warm apartment building. My right arm swung uselessly at my side and I knew I would have to go to the doctor.

But with what money?

As I climbed up the stairs to my apartment, I knew it was time. Time to call the woman whose home I'd run away from when I was ten. The only person I knew who had money and could help me fix my arm.

It was time to call Chiyo.

xXx

**Normal POV**

Deidara brushed snow off his face and kept walking. His anger had quite evaporated by now and all he wanted to do was get home. Well, at least I know I can't possibly be the only one having a bad day...

He spotted a small store, the only open store. They must have been crazy, but Deidara couldn't help being thankful. He practically ran inside, glad to be swallowed up by the store's warm and pleasant inside. He grabbed an energy drink and a lighter, and stood behind a woman in line while he got money out of his pocket.

She left and Deidara stepped forward and placed his items on the counter. He looked up at the cashier and saw her short sandy hair sway as she turned away to open the cash register. She turned back to face him with jade green eyes and with a jolt, he realized who it was.

She, it appeared, did not.

Deidara handed her the money and stood there, waiting for his change. When the cashier turned back to hand it to him, he took it and smiled.

"Nana-chan, I didn't realize I had changed so much that I'm unrecognizable."

She froze, staring at him through wide eyes. "D-Deidara-kun?"

"In person," the blonde replied with a smile.

"Oh! But...Deidara, oh my God!" she leaned across the counter and pulled him into a rib-cracking hug. When she pulled away, she eyed him with a concerned look in her eye. "You've been smoking."

"No I haven't," Deidara lied.

The store was completely empty now, and Deidara leaned on the counter, confident that they could have an uninterrupted conversation.

Nana laughed. "C'mon, you _reek_ of cigarette smoke!"

"Fine, you win," Deidara said. "But tell me, what are you doing in Ame? What happened to pursuing your 'acting career' in Iwa?"

"The agency wouldn't take me," Nana said. "They said I was too ugly."

Deidara scoffed. "Those idiots."

They laughed for a few minutes before Nana spoke. "Can I have your number, I'd like to keep in touch...if that's alright with you."

Deidara nodded and wrote down his house phone number on the scrap of paper Nana gave him. She took it and pocketed it. "So, who's the lucky lady?"

"What are you talking about?" Deidara said with a smile, opening his energy drink and taking a large gulp.

Nana rolled her eyes.

"Her name's Konan," the blonde said, feeling the heat taking over his face.

"Aw, look at you," Nana said, pointing at Deidara's face and laughing.

"Shut up," Deidara muttered, not looking at her.

"So why don't you take her something nice?" Nana suggested, pointing to the various flowers sitting in a vase marked '2x1 Special'. She picked the two reddest roses she could find and handed them to Deidara. "There. Free."

Deidara raised his eyebrow. "Really?"

"Really," said Nana.

"Thanks. Well... I guess I should go," Deidara said.

"Oh, before you go," Nana said, and Deidara turned around. "Do you still use that diary I gave you?"

Diary? What dia..._fuck_. He had lost it! He had lost his diary, the one Nana had given to him before he had left Iwa! Trying to look as though nothing was wrong, the blonde smiled. "I've almost filled it up."

Nana smiled. "Alright then, see you."

"Yeah," said Deidara. "See you."

He set off towards Konan's apartment, wondering where he'd left that diary. If anyone found it, if anyone read what was inside...

* * *

**Yay. I like it. Hehehe. I blame Ritsuka. He likes the romance, the drama. Weirdo. Well, anyway, I would really like to thank him for calling me today to wish me a Happy Birthday. He was the only one, and it really cheered me up. Arigato gozaimasu, Ritsuka-san! You know what you guys can do to help me thank him? Yes, that's right. Press that little button at the bottom and leave a nice little review. Thanks. Ja ne!**


	13. Expect The Unexpected

**Well, after many months of being absent from fanfiction, I'm back! I'm hoping to be able to update more often now. I've been super busy x_x I'm so sorry for the long wait! Anyway, enjoy n_n **

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On Friday, Deidara awoke to find that the temperature had dropped drastically overnight. He took a quick, hot shower and decided to get dressed in the bathroom, which was pleasantly warm and steamy. While he toweled his hair dry, he came to the realization that Oigimi had not come home. She usually woke up at the sound of the shower being turned off but this time there were no sounds in the house apart from water dripping steadily from the shower head. Yugiri had, of course, left for work at 5 am, untroubled by Oigimi's absence but nevertheless expecting her to be back by the time he came home from work. If Oigimi had still not come back when Deidara came home, he would tell Yugiri where Oigimi had gone the previous day and why.

Meanwhile, Deidara still had Nana's diary to worry about. This was much more important than his absent mother. Last night, after coming home, he had searched every inch of his room for it but had come up with nothing but a few crumpled gum wrappers and a broken pen. Seeing as how these items were completely useless in his quest to find the diary, they were quickly disposed of in the trash.

When Deidara opened the front door to leave, he saw that a heavy snowfall had hit Amegakure while everyone slept. It had piled on top of yesterday's snow and Deidara knew that there was no way Konan would be able to drive to his house to pick him up. Once he figured this out, he set out to school on foot.

The walk to school was a short one, but this did not stop Deidara from letting his mind wander. He had been carrying Nana's diary in his backpack with him everywhere since he had come to Amegakure. Never had he taken the diary out of his backpack for fear of someone taking it and reading it. He had nearly forgotten about it until Nana had mentioned it, bringing about the realization that it had been a while since he had seen the little book in his backpack. How had it come out of his backpack? Had someone taken it?

More importantly, where had it ended up?

Deidara suddenly wished he did not have the neat, highly legible handwriting that won him teachers' praise. What he would give for Hidan's handwriting, which closely resembled a four-year-old's! Then no one would be able to read the diary and, frustrated by the fact that they had no idea what the writing on the pages said, they would toss the book on the floor somewhere and forget about it.

He was now walking in through the gates of the school, deep in thought. As soon as he approached the cafeteria, the first bell rang, startling Deidara out of his thoughts. People swarmed out of the cafeteria and headed into the buildings, traveling in packs the way all teenagers do. Suddenly irritated, Deidara made his way to his History class, taking a seat at the very back of the classroom.

By the time the third bell rang and the teacher closed the door, everyone was seated. Everyone except Konan. Her absence immediately began to eat away at Deidara's concentration so that he focused instead on where she could be rather than his schoolwork. The possibility of her being sick was immediately shot down, its little body lay in an imaginary field somewhere in Deidara's mind, next to the little dead bodies of Hope and Childhood Dreams. No, she was not sick. She had been perfectly healthy the day before. No sniffling or coughing of any sort.

He was just coming to this conclusion when he noticed a pair of large brown eyes staring at him from across the room. He looked up and found himself staring at Sasori, who was staring back with a most curious expression on his face. He looked troubled, as though he wanted to tell the blonde something but did not know how. Far from being intrigued, the redhead's continuous staring was beginning to annoy Deidara.

Even worse, Pein, too, could not seem to keep his eyes away from Deidara. He kept turning around every few seconds, giving the impression that he had a bad tic. Twice the teacher asked him to turn around. Why Pein was doing this Deidara did not know. Every time he looked up he met Pein's angry stare. He hadn't done anything wrong but he felt he would soon if Pein didn't stop acting like an angry toddler.

Hidan, Deidara noticed, was the only one whose eyes stayed away from him. He played with one of his lip rings, observing Hidan, whose violet eyes seemed glued to his paper on which he was taking notes in his childish handwriting.

When the lunch bell rang, Deidara felt that he could no longer take it. He packed up everything and quickly left, pushing past Sasori, who opened his mouth to speak but then closed it, watching Deidara leave.

**Sasori's POV**

I watched him run off, his long blond hair swinging wildly. His backpack bounced with every step he took and the chains on his black jeans jingled.

I took the diary out of my backpack and turned it over in my hand, looking at the faded black cover. I tucked it into the pocket of my jacket, adjusted my arm sling, and walked into the courtyard to sit under a tree. I did not feel like spending lunch with Pein and the others.

When I was finally a good distance from everybody else, I took out the diary again and turned to the last page.

_I won't even bother with a hello today. Fuck that. But guess what, diary? Oigimi told me something today. "Deidara we're moving to Amegakure."_

_I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna like Amegakure. It fucking rains there all the time. But I guess it's final and I have to say goodbye to Nana. I'd say goodbye to Rika, but you know she's not speaking to me anymore. I don't want to leave. No matter how bad life is here in Iwa, I grew up here and it's all I've ever known._

The rest of the entry was completely illegible, the words smeared by a big bloodstain on the page.

I stared at the page, wondering. Who's blood was this and how had it gotten here? I ran my finger across the dry blood as if hoping to be instantly illuminated, knowing the answers to my questions but nothing happened. No sudden illumination of any kind came. I closed the book with a sharp snap. This was Deidara's book and I was still much to shy to return it.

I looked down at my arm resting in the sling. I had called Chiyo the previous day but it turned out her number was no longer in service. Out of options, I had run down to the pharmacy and bought some over-the-counter pain medication and an arm sling. This was all I could do but, for now, this meant no work for a while. I would have to spend carefully and, if necessary, withdraw money from my precious bank account. I felt like Kakuzu.

I sighed. I would give Deidara the diary tomorrow and find Chiyo. For now, I had to figure out what to do with the massive amount of pending commissions I had.

"Akasuna."

Aw, crap.

I turned around and found myself facing Pein, who had crouched down to my level. He was holding a soda in one hand, a hot instant ramen cup in the other.

"Yeah?" I muttered, trying to look indifferent instead of weary.

"Where's blondie?" he asked, taking a big gulp of soda. Ah, grape-flavored. My favorite.

I shrugged. "How the hell should I know? Ask Konan."

"Well that's just it, genius. Konan's not here today and I want to know why," he replied, smiling in that nasty way that only he could.

"Just give up," I said, discreetely tucking the book in my pocket. "She doesn't like you and she never will..._again_."

Pein stood up. "You watch your mouth. " was all he said. He turned around and walked away briskly, no doubt heading towards the parking lot so that he could drive around looking for any signs of Konan, or better yet, Deidara.

**Normal POV**

It was after he had rung the doorbell about five or six times that Deidara finally reached in his pocket for his copy of Konan's apartment key and used it to open the door.

The inside of the apartment was colder than the outside, meaning Konan had never turned on the heater. This struck Deidara as odd. Konan hated being cold and her apartment was always warm.

"Konan?"

Deidara heard his own voice echo slightly. He stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind him. Carefully, he walked around, looking for any sign that his girlfriend was home.

And then he heard sobs.

Extremely soft and almost inaudible but still sobs. They were coming from the bathroom. Puzzled, Deidara walked into the bathroom.

Konan was sitting against the wall, hugging her knees and sobbing. Her eyes were dry but red and swollen from crying, as was her nose. Sitting on top of the towel rack were the clothes she had laid out for today but had obviously never put on. Some of her earrings were lying on the sink. No doubt she had taken them out to clean them in the morning but something had happened that upset her and she had never put them back in. She was holding something in her fist but Deidara did not care about that now. What he cared about was that Konan was crying on the floor of her bathroom and had obviously been doing so all day.

"What the fuck? Konan, what happened?" he quickly crouched down and pulled her into a hug that she did not return. She merely lay her head on his shoulder and Deidara felt new tears dampen his clothes. He patted her back softly and waited almost twenty minutes, when her sobs had died down a little, before speaking again.

"What's wrong?"

She looked up at him in a pleading sort of way and then held out what she had been holding in her fist.

At first, the object lying on her palm was completely strange to Deidara. It took a whole five seconds for him to realize that it was a pregnancy test. It took another ten to realize that it said 'Positive'.

His mouth opened as if to speak but no sound escaped his throat. He stared at the test and pushed his hair out of his face, as if it had caused him to read it wrong. He looked again. It had not changed.

"You...You're _pregnant_...?" he asked stupidly. He turned to look at her, searching her face for any hint of lying, hoping, almost pleading that she would drop the test and shout out, "Ha! Gotcha! You should've seen your face!" but she didn't.

She stared back at him, her bottom lip trembling, her lip ring catching the bathroom light and making it sparkle. A strand of bright blue hair fell from behind her ear where it had been tucked and hung between her eyes, swinging like a pendulum, counting down the seconds until she would confirm what he already knew.

"Yeah...." she whispered.

And suddenly, who cared about a stupid lost diary that an ex-girlfriend had given him? Who cared about Oigimi and Yugiri? What did it matter if Danzo came back into his life and beat the shit out of him every day? His constant debates about what he felt for Hidan were insignificant. Sasori and his staring didn't matter at all. Pein's childish attitude towards him was nothing more than a speck of dust in the universe. What mattered now was that his life had just been turned upside down. Here was his girlfriend, crying on the cold floor of her bathroom, the clothes she had never put on lying on a towel rack, she was wearing pajamas instead. Her hair was undone and messy, half her piercings were lying on top of the sink and she was holding out to him a little piece of plastic that had a message for him, something more than 'Positive'.

He was going to be a father. A _sixteen-year-old _father.

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***instert dramatic music* Oh noes! I've been wanting to write this chapter since I was writing the final chapters of Akatsuki High :O I could finally do it!! ^-^ Hehe, R&R?? Thanks :D**


	14. Deidara & Hidan

**HOLA :D Sorry for the delay, but I have no internet and so I can't upload ;; ANYWAY...enjoy!

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Immediately, Deidara put his own fear and worries aside. What was important now was that he had to let Konan know that it would be alright. He helped Konan to her feet and then hugged her. Still, she did not hug back. He ran a hand through Konan's tangled blue hair and sighed.

"It's alright...I'll stick with you. I'll be here for you and the baby," Deidara whispered, meaning every word.

"No."

"What?" Deidara said, confused. "No?"

"No!" Konan yelled, pushing him away. He stumbled back, bumping into the sink. Three of the five earrings resting on it fell into the drain with a clink.

"Konan, what's wrong with you?" Deidara said before he could stop himself.

Konan glared at him. "I've...I've seen the way...you l-look at Hidan...! At first I didn't...didn't really think much of it. But then you'd s-spend the entire...fucking c-class period staring at him like he was some sort of m-model!" she screamed, tears running down her face. "S-So don t fucking ask what's...wrong with m-me! What's wrong with y-you?" her tears had stopped now, not on their own, Deidara could see. It was obvious she was holding them back, her choked voice said it all.

Deidara felt like he had swallowed an ice cube. He could do nothing except stare at Konan, who was angry and confused, gripping the pregnancy test in her tightly clenched fist, her chest heaving.

She knew. She knew that, every day, Deidara would constantly battle with himself in order to keep himself focused on the teacher and not the Jashinist who sat at the far end of the room. He did not know it, but now that Konan voiced it aloud...it was confirmed. He had a crush on Hidan. He had a crush on a guy! A fucking guy! He felt his stomach tighten into a knot and his legs felt like rubber.

"I...I don't know..." was all he could say. He lowered his gaze, unable to meet her accusatory stare.

"Well...I do," she said softly.

Deidara looked up. What did she know?

"I know that I c-can't be with you if you're...like that. I know that I'd r-rather be a single m-mom-"

"Konan! Do you know what the hell you're saying? You are going to need emotional and financial support if you're going to have this baby! Any other son of a bitch would've said 'Good luck, see ya!' and walked out. But I'm staying...for you and the baby, Konan! This thing with Hidan doesn't have to be a problem or even something to think about," Deidara said loudly, trying to get her to understand.

But Konan shook her head. A bobby pin came loose and flew across the room, landing in a far corner with a little ping. "I was g-going to do this...even b-before I knew I was pregnant, Deidara..."

"Okay...okay...it's your decision. C-Can I still see the baby from time to time?" Deidara asked, almost pleaded. He blinked back tears and tried to ignore the lump in his throat.

Konan avoided his gaze, glaring at the wall. "No."

Deidara felt his tears threatening to spill and took a deep breath. "Okay...okay. Good luck, I guess. I...I have to go back to school...the bell should be ringing any minute now..."

"Yeah," Konan said.

Deidara stepped forward. "Bye..." he said awkwardly, instinctively reaching for a hug. He caught himself and lowered his arms. He turned to leave, turned to look at her one last time, and then walked away. He opened the front door and stepped outside, closing the door behind him. He set off towards the school, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

Konan's POV

I watched him go, hardly aware of the fact that I was standing there in yesterday's clothes, having just kicked out the best boyfriend I had ever had. I suddenly became aware that I was still clutching the pregnancy test tightly in my hand. In a fit of rage, I let out a loud, high-pitched scream and threw the pregnancy test. It bounced off the wall and landed at my feet. I blinked back tears and leaned back against the wall then slid down, down until I was sitting on the cold tile floor.

Just what the fuck was wrong with Deidara? He had admitted it. He had a crush on Hidan. Was he gay? Why was he doing this to me?

I was so confused, I had no idea what to do. What the hell are you supposed to do when you're pregnant with the child of a potentially-gay guy? You can't just say, "Oh, sure, let's stay together and possibly scar this baby for life." No! You have to decide what's the best for the baby, and for yourself. I just couldn't be with Deidara any longer. I didn't want him near my baby.

I stood up and began to strip off all of my clothes. I got the shower ready and got inside, almost sighing with relief from the relaxing hot water running down my back. I grabbed the bottle of shampoo and lathered up my hair, then grabbed the sponge and squirted some body wash on it. As I was scrubbing, I began to doubt whether I had done the right thing. Deidara looked like he had really meant all that about staying and helping me with the baby. Suppose he actually meant it? Would he have been a good father to my baby? A good example?

I grabbed the razor next to the bottle of conditioner and began to shave my legs in long, swift strokes. Ha! Bullshit. The path Deidara was taking was clearly not a good one for the child. There was no way I could raise a child properly with him around.

I shaved my underarms and then rinsed my hair. After I applied the conditioner, I reached for the face cleanser. I squirted some out onto my hand and rubbed it on my face. I stood with the bottle in my hand, beads of water running down my body, steam from the shower rising rapidly, lost in thought. I could feel tears coming, and I quickly blinked them away. I did not want to cry. I would not cry for Deidara, who had deceived me for what I assumed was a long time about something so important.

I turned and rinsed my face then turned again and rinsed my hair, then my entire body. I turned off the shower and then stepped out, not caring about wetting the floor. I wrapped a towel around my head and then used another to dry my piercings then took my time in inserting all the rings that had not fallen into the drain back in their places.

I dried my body and slowly put on all my clothes, feeling strangely emotionless. I removed the towel from my hair and threw it on the floor, leaving it there. I turned off the bathroom light and left. I walked into my room and grabbed a comb and began to run it through my damp hair.

I stepped on something soft. I looked down and found that I had stepped on Deidara s favorite red sweater.

I picked it up and caught a whiff of his body spray. I sat on the edge of bed, at last giving in to the tears I had been holding back.

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**Yay! You guys should totally R&R :D Gracias!**


	15. Trying To Help

**It took me forever to come up with this chapter because dumb Ritsuka wasn't answering my texts .; But, now it's here :D So, enjoy!

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**Pein's POV**

It was almost time to go back to school. I turned the car around and began to drive back to the school, abandoning my search for the idiot blonde. I could not afford another tardy, at least not until I could have a private talk with the hot attendance clerk. Then, like many times before, she would clear all of my absences and tardies. What a darling.

I parked in my usual spot and, as I was getting out of the car, I spotted Deidara walking back onto school grounds through the parking lot entrance. I grabbed my text books from the passenger seat and, head full of ill-intentions, I ran towards Deidara. There was no fucking way he had been gone all lunch period and not visited Konan. I could sense now that he was in a foul mood. I ran up to him and firmly planted my feet on the ground in front of him, blocking his path.

He fixed me one of his "I'm-not-in-the-mood" looks that would have otherwise given me the chills. "Hn."

I tried hard to not sound out of breath. "W-Where's your girlfriend?" I raised an eyebrow for added effect. I just loved messing with the guy.

Nothing. Just a blank stare.

Well that wasn't very fun at all.

The bell rang and people quickly walked past and around us, like a colony of ants, all coming and going in a busy but orderly fashion.

"I don't have a girlfriend-"

I snorted. "What a dumbass! No, really, where's Konan?"

Deidara frowned and pushed past me, taking care to not-so-lightly punch me in the arm as he did so. A hot flash of pain ran up my arm and to my shoulder but I ignored it. "I don't have a girlfriend." he repeated, and proceeded to quickly enter the nearest building, even though his next class was in the building next to it.

After a couple of seconds, I realized my mouth was hanging wide open. I gave my head a little shake and then ran into the nearest building and up the stairs. I barely made it into class- the second I set foot in there, the bell rang. I took my usual seat at the back of the classroom. The only person I knew (and cared to know) in that class was dear Sasori. He sat at his usual seat next to mine, doodling absently on he fabric of his arm sling. Inside it, I could see that his arm was swollen and tender looking. Ouch.

"Why are you barely here?" Sasori said, looking up at me as I sat down, wiping sweat from my brow.

I flopped down on the seat and breathed a sigh as the teacher began her lesson. I took a moment to watch the wonderful sway of her delicate hips before realizing Sasori had asked me something.

"Wha-? Oh, uh...I was talking to Deidara..." I said absently. God, she had a great body.

Sasori adjusted himself on his chair. "Ya know him and Konan are no longer together?"

I was about to say I knew, but decided maybe the redhead had valuable information. I feigned ignorance. "No way?"

Sasori raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Konan called me halfway through the lunch period. Said Deidara had just left- she kicked him out. She said she had noticed he kept checking out Hidan, right? She's no homophobe, we know this. So, I ask why they couldn't just, like, forget about it, you know? She was crying and shit, telling me she couldn't. So, I'm like, 'Why not?' and guess what she said!"

Sasori looked at me through his big, round, childish brown eyes. They darted from side to side, his mouth in that trademarked Sasori-smirk, he was searching my face for any sudden dawning on the mystery that was Konan's dilemma.

And then, it hit me.

"Don't tell me she's-"

"That's right- she's pregnant!" he whispered excitedly. "Deidara told her he would help her out with money, that he would not leave her just because of this. But she brought out the Hidan thing! Ooh, he had no response to that, she said. So she kicked him out. Didn't want someone like him around to raise the kid, she said. Not that people like that were bad, she made this clear to me, but she just didn't want her child influenced or some stupid crap like that. I told her she was being stupid, that maybe Blondie coulda been a good dad. So she got pissed and hung up on me."

He chuckled, a rare thing for Sasori.

I stared at him, disbelieving. I really disliked the blonde but now...shit, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. I had always thought him as a lazy, irresponsible bastard, but hearing this from Sasori, who heard if from Konan herself...it made me see the good side of Deidara. He was a good boyfriend, poor guy. He had actually tried. If I had gotten Konan pregnant, I would've dumped her sorry ass. I was not ready to be a dad, and I was sure Deidara wasn't any more prepared. I really wish I hadn't bothered Deidara about Konan during lunch, he must've felt like crap. I could tell he had really cared about her and she had dumped him for something so stupid. Even if he did turn out to be gay, so what? Sasori was gay as a rainbow and he was still an okay guy. Sure, he said unnecessary comments about the male librarian, but, hey, after a while, we all got used to it and just laughed. As for Hidan, he wasn't gay, he was more of a bendy straw. I really hoped him and Deidara didn't start dating or that would just make things weird.

_Why_ was I thinking about these things?

I decided I would help Deidara. I knew there was no helping him get back together with Konan, but maybe me and the guys could provide some sort of stronger friendship and then maybe he wouldn't be as lonely.

This was me, Nagato, feeling sorry for a guy I had hated moments earlier. Funny how your gossip-queen gay friend can change your perspective about people, eh? I scribbled down a couple of notes from what little I had heard of the lesson and then set to doodle on the corner of my notebook.

When the last bell finally rang, I ran to Deidara's locker and stood there, hoping he would come to get something out. To my amazing luck, he was headed right in my direction.

And walked completely past me.

He walked up to some guy about five or six lockers away and they stood facing each other directly so that I could not see the other's face or what they were exchanging. Finally, Deidara turned away, stuffing something in his pocket, and then froze at the sight of me standing next to his locker. I raised an eyebrow threateningly out of habit and, upon seeing the blank stare switch to an angry glare, I quickly stopped and shook my head. "I just want to talk to you," I said loudly so he could hear me.

It was he now who raised an eyebrow. "Alright, then...hn." he approached me cautiously, standing three feet away from me.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not gonna hurt you, man. I, uh...heard...about you and Konan..." I said, mentally flinching.

I saw the corner of his mouth twitch, and not in the direction of a smile. Then, contrary to what had happened just a split second ago, he smiled, did an about-face, and walked out of the building.

_Son of a..._

I ran after him and followed him out onto the parking lot. I grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around.

Bad move. Bad, _bad_ move.

Little did I know, as he turned, his tightly clenched fist turned with him, too, and got me right on the side of the jaw. There was a pop, then excruciating pain, followed by unimaginable fury.

As a child, I had been beaten every day, till I was black and blue, by my drunk of a mother. Dad was never around, and I think that's why she drank. She would hit me with whatever she could find, and then the war came. It wasn't a long one, but it killed a lot of people. Including her. Ever since, I was a quiet kid at school. I didn't pick fights, just made fun of people, but not to the point of fighting. I never fought anyone. I had no idea how to defend myself. That's right, Pein, the tough guy of the school, had never fought before. I just let my arms think of their own accord.

I had now completely forgotten that I was going to help Deidara, that I no longer hated him. I grabbed his long hair and pulled down. His body came down, too, hitting the asphalt hard. Before I could even see what had happened, he had twisted around and kicked me in the back of the knees, so that my legs gave way and I released his hair. In an instant, he was on top of me, hands around my throat, choking me. He had an immensely strong grip and I clawed at his hands desperately. I looked up and saw the anger in his eyes, and it reminded me of my mom. I summoned the last of my fading strength and then...

There was a crack as my fist made contact with his face, which part, I did not know. His hands released my neck and he toppled over, his hair flying around him, tangling around his neck, his mouth slightly parted. He landed on the asphalt on his side. It looked as though he would pass out and then, he was on his feet again. Blood trickled from the side of his mouth.

I gasped and sputtered, clawing at my chest. I began to take in giant gulps of air, eyes closed in relief. I opened them and saw that Deidara had every intention to keep the fight going.

_"HEY!"_ I yelled, and he stopped, one foot in front of the other, right arm slightly raised. I had just remembered that I did not want to fight him. I wanted to help him.

He blinked and stared at me. "Shit...!" he muttered, and began to slowly back away, trembling slightly.

I stood up and he froze. He looked genuinely scared and I was wondering just what the hell was wrong with him. I refrained from asking, though. "I just wanted to talk, man. I wanted to help you!"

He stood there, looking at me as though I were speaking some foreign language. "H-Help me...? Fuck, with what?" he said incredulously.

I massaged my throbbing neck. I was surprised he hadn't broken it, the way he gripped it. "Konan...what she did was wrong...she had no right to treat you like that. I can see now that you were good to her but a little thing like you looking at Hidan just made her lose it. I'm really sorry, man. Look, I just wanted to be friends since...yeah, not to be a dick, but you don't have none. To be honest, I hated you. Then...I heard that you were willing to stay for the mother of your kid and hey, you're one of a kind. Plus, I don't really remember what you did to get me to hate you besides date Konan, who turns out to not be the best person in the world after all."

Deidara listened to my every word. He took a step forward. "I...I'm sorry about hitting you. I kinda lose it sometimes...when I'm mad, heh. But...yeah...thanks, hm..."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, I guess I asked for it. I didn't really warn you what I wanted to talk to you about. So, uh...what do you say we start to hang out more?"

Deidara gave me a half smile. I didn't know where my sudden good mood was coming from, but I was guessing that Deidara was a likeable guy and I had just never taken the time to get to know him- or get my ass kicked by him.

"Sure, I guess," he replied. I saw that he had relaxed somewhat and he no longer had the posture of a lamppost.

"C'mon, what do you say we go have a little fun with what you just bought in the hallway?" I smirked, wiping blood from my mouth. He did the same and then it occurred to me that, this morning, I had woken up and hated the guy who had just choked me. Instead of hating him more, I found in him a potential best friend.

It's funny how your gossip-queen gay friend and a little ass-kicking can do to change what you think of someone

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**This is by far one of my favorite episodes :D Yay, now they're friends! R&R please, thank chu.**


	16. Sasori The GossipQueen

**Ok, I have to admit I totally half-assed this chapter . sorry, guys but I was too tired to give it my all. And now my boyfriend is making fun of me D; Speaking of him, you should totally go read his story :D he's NamikazeXUzumaki. Well, I don't have the time to mention everybody who reviewed, but you guys know who you are, so thank you! Now, enjoy! Hopefully ._.**

**(By the way, Matsuo Tanuki, this is not Ritsuka-kun's handwriting :D It's his plot, to which I added. The writing is all me, okay?**)

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**Konan's POV**

_"Yes?"_

The voice that answered the phone was monotonous, almost bored. I hesitated, wondering if, maybe, it was better to hang up the phone and forget this. How had I even come to this decision, anyway? Must've been the twenty billion ads in the paper. I could hear my conscience protesting and I almost sang aloud to drown its little voice out. I looked up and found my reflection staring back at me: a thin face with a defined but delicate jaw, thin but shapely lips pulled down in a frown, eyes red and puffy from crying. My hair was tied up into a loose ponytail. A few strands of hair hand come loose and were hanging between my eyes (now that I took the time to stare at them I could see how cold they looked), swinging back and forth every time I moved, like pendulums. The roots of my hair were starting to show, dark brown slowly fading into the usual midnight blue.

_"Hello? Anyone there?"_ the same voice from before, only now it had a hint of annoyance, like an impatient teenager.

I swallowed- my throat was dry as sandpaper. "I...um, I'm calling to schedule an-"

_"Is tomorrow at twelve-thirty alright?" _the voice had now taken on a more business-like tone.

I blinked. "Uh...y-yeah, that's fine..."

_"Alright, upon your arrival, we'll have you fill out some forms. Keep in mind the doctor has the final word," _the voice informed me. _"Can I have your name?"_

"Konan," I replied, twisting a strand of hair around my finger and holding the phone tightly in my other hand.

_"Okay, then, Konan, we'll be expecting you tomorrow at twelve-thirty."_

I closed my eyes, almost sighing out loud. "Yes, thank you."

There was a small _"Mmph." _from the voice, and then they hung up.

I let the phone fall onto the bed and then flopped down on the pillows. Somewhere deep down, I knew this wasn't right, but I didn't know what else to do. I wasn't ready for any of this, it had all come flying at me so fast. I was just a stupid sophomore girl who had no idea how to take care of herself, much less a child. I didn't have the money, I didn't have the space, the patience, the anything! I didn't know anything about anything! Except for one thing. I knew one thing perfectly.

I did not love this baby.

**Normal POV**

The place was essentially one long room with a sink, stove, and refrigerator lined up in that order at the far end. Every available surface, even some of the floor, was stacked with dirty dishes and empty fast food wrappings. A small plastic table with one chair divided the kitchen from the living room, one corner of which was taken up by an old bed that had a mattress that sagged in the middle, looking as though you would end up getting a couple of holes poked in you before the night was over because of the springs coming out of it. The bathroom was just beside that, there was no door, just a curtained doorway. On the other side of the bathroom was a closet and beyond that, the back door.

There was a single, ancient couch in the entire apartment, and that is the one Deidara and Pein were sitting on, staring blankly at the T.V. in front of them. Deidara lit a cigarette and ran a hand through his hair. He turned and met Pein's gaze, which was slightly unfocused thanks to the fun they had had with Deidara's hallway purchase.

"You know...I don't know why Konan dumped you, man. You're alright," Pein mumbled.

"I don't know what her problem is. I mean, I was gonna help her out. It's _my_ kid too, hn," Deidara said, yawning loudly.

They both sat in silence for a while, watching the man and woman on T.V. run through the woods and away from the crazy killer who was chasing them. The woman tripped and fell, giving the killer time to catch up and, when he did, there was suddenly a lot of blood and screaming, followed by laughter. Pein turned to Deidara and surveyed him for a while.

"Oh, dude. That's the thing about Konan: _she takes everything up the ass_. Then, when it's too late to fix the situation, she realizes she was being stupid."

Deidara let himself fall back on the couch and closed his eyes, enjoying his high. "I suppose..."

"What will you do if she wants you back? What are you gonna say?" asked Pein. He got up and walked into the kitchen.

Deidara laughed. "I'm gonna say no, of course. It's not fair that she dumps me just 'cuz of this stupid shit with Hidan. What...did she think I was gonna cheat on her, hm?"

Pein walked into the living room, holding two cans of beer. He wagged an approving finger at Deidara. "Thatta boy!" he smiled and tossed one of the cans at Deidara, who caught it and opened it.

"This whole situation...it's like one of Mindless Self-Indulgence's songs: it makes no sense but...fuck, whatever, I forget...ugh, you know what I mean, right?"

Pein stared at him blankly. "Yeah. Uh, no...But, look, man, don't think about it so much. If you want, you can totally stay here for a while, just until- ah, fuck it! You should just move in, Blondie! Bring in all your shit. I'll pick up all your other stuff from Konan's apartment tomorrow, since she hates your guts. What do you say?"

"I say...where do I sleep, dude?" Deidara smiled and drank the rest of his beer in one gulp.

**The Next Day- Sasori's POV**

_What was that? That noise...the phone? Alarm?_

I opened my eyes and my room slowly came into focus. I lay in bed for what seemed like an eternity, feeling like I was sleeping but my eyes were open. What had that noise been? Seriously, the sun wasn't...oh, my room was filled with sunlight. So it wasn't early. I must have overslept today but that did not matter as it was not a school-

School!

"Fuckin'...! Gah!" I jumped out of bed and, at the same time, the phone rang, startling me so that I got tangled in the sheets and slammed head-first into the bedside table.

Eyes streaming and mouth pulled into a grimace, I answered the phone. "What the fuck do you want?"

_"I'm sorry, did I wake you? Um...I walked by your place and saw you weren't going to school today, so I decided to call you,"_ I heard Konan's voice but it took a while for the words to register.

"I'm fine, no need to call," I replied monotonously. My face was throbbing painfully and I just wanted Konan to leave me alone so I could scream in pain alone and in the privacy of my own apartment.

_"It's not that. Um...the baby...I'm, uh..."_

I disentangled myself and frowned. "You're not getting rid of it, are you?" I could not keep the concern out of my voice.

There was a small noise, as though Konan had wanted to say something but had stopped herself.

"Jesus, Konan! Don't even think about it! I mean, can you even do that?" I half-yelled.

_"Well...I really think it's for the best. And...well, the first time I didn't get my period, I decided to wait. Then...Then this time it didn't come again so that's when I took the test, Saso-kun. So...I think it's possible they can do it. I hope they can,_" Konan explained.

I actually stood up. "Konan! You can't kill a baby! Your baby!"

_"I don't want it."_

And then she hung up.

"Fuck!" I threw the phone down on the bed and started to rip clothes out of the closet and throw them on. I needed to stop her, but how? Amegakure had only one abortion clinic but that was incredibly far away from my apartment. Who did I know that lived close to the clinic?

Itachi and Pein.

I ran to the phone and dialed Itachi's number. Somebody answered straight away.

_"Uchiha residence,"_ said a small voice. It was probably Sasuke, Itachi's younger brother. I didn't even know why I had dialed his home phone. That idiot needed to get a cell phone. More importantly, I needed to stop wasting time having moments with myself. Like right now.

I hung up and dialed Pein's number instead, hoping that he was home. After five rings, I was about to hang up, but then somebody answered the phone._ "H-Hello?"_

"Pein! This is Sasori. Sorry to wake you, but this is important!"

_"Aw, shit, don't tell me you need my straightener again. Sorry, I broke-"_

"Shut the fuck up and listen! Konan is getting an abortion!"

There was silence, then, after what seemed like years to me, he spoke, _"Like...now?"_

"Yes, now!" I yelled into the receiver. I couldn't believe how slow he was in understanding what I was trying to say.

_"But it's a school day- fuck! It's fucking twelve! Hey, Blondie, wake up, fucker! We overslept!"_ Pein yelled. Suddenly, there was a lot of sounds coming from Pein's end and Deidara's voice somewhere in the background. _"What are you doing? No, you don't have time for a fucking shower! Konan's getting an abortion! Abortion, dumbshit! C'mon!"_

"I'm gonna leave now and try to get to the clinic, alright?" I didn't wait for a reply, I just hung up. I ran into the kitchen, grabbed a couple of granola bars, grabbed my keys from the table, and ran out the door.

My arm was beginning to ache in its sling, but I ignored it and even then, I could not remember a time when I had ever run faster.

**Normal POV**

Trees and buildings were reduced to a blur because of the speed Pein was driving at. Deidara looked out the window, fighting to stay awake. His hair was a tangled mess, his face looked ten years older than it really was because of how messed up he had gotten the night before. There were bags under his eyes and he felt like he was going to throw up. Still, he just wanted to get to Konan. He knew Pein was thinking the same thing he was:

_I can't let Konan do this._

Pein stomped on the brakes and Deidara barely had time to put his hands out in front of him. He looked up and saw that they were in the parking lot of the dingy little building that was Ame's abortion clinic.

It was a small, one-story brick building, whose outside looked damp, giving the impression that the people inside had to deal with a leaky ceiling. A shady little place that looked like everything about it was wrong, yet nobody did anything about it. The parking lot had only room for five cars, there was two large trashcans sitting behind the building, complete with buzzing flies. It was like something out of a movie set: the clich abandoned-looking building that nobody wants to go into.

"Stay in the car, I don't want Konan to see you and get upset," Pein muttered.

"Yeah," Deidara replied, sitting straight up in his seat, turning his head this way and that, searching for Konan.

Pein opened the car door and ran outside, turning to the left and right. It was then that they saw Konan's car park directly behind the building and not in one of the parking spaces. Without hesitation, Pein broke into a run towards the slender figure getting out of the car.

"Nagato?" Deidara heard Konan's voice. She sounded puzzled, but also angry.

They stood there, talking, and Deidara was becoming increasingly frustrated because he could not hear what they were saying. Snowflakes were falling onto the windshield and drifting in through Deidara's open window.

Konan tried to walk away but Pein grabbed her arm and turned her around. She was facing Pein's car now. Deidara saw her expression change from angry to surprised.

It's crazy when, in the strangest of moments, you really start to notice the details about a person's face or body. It's like your mind just chooses the most incredible times to wander. It was now that Deidara's mind did just that. Konan started to walk towards Pein's car at a fast pace, taking care not to run, though she obviously wanted to. Now she looked angry again.

Deidara had never noticed how pretty she looked when she was angry. It looked like she had just gotten out of bed- she was wearing pajamas after all. Her loose and silky pajama pants were tight around her perfect hips, which swayed in a most tempting way. She was wearing the bunny slippers Deidara had bought her just a few weeks ago, the little ears were drooping. Her hair was not in a ponytail or a bun today, it looked incredible when she didn't have it up. It bounced as she walked, shining even with the lack of sunlight. Before he knew it, Konan was at his window.

"Deidara! What the hell are you doing here?" she half-yelled, frowning.

For some reason unknown even to himself, Deidara felt a hot wave of anger wash over him. He fought to keep his emotions under control. "We came to stop you, Konan."

She rolled her eyes and Deidara could tell that she was holding back tears. "I know this. But why? What the hell do you care, Deidara? You left me."

She walked away a couple of feet and turned so that her back was facing him. Deidara opened the door and stepped out, somehow furious. "I left you?_ I _left _you_? You dumped me! You _kicked me out! _You won't let me see my own kid. You won't give my kid a chance to live, hm..."

He didn't know where this was coming from, but he now realized how much it hurt for Konan to be trying to get rid of the baby. His baby, his child. Every time he thought of his baby, a warm feeling rose up inside him and he now realized that he loved him or her. He didn't know how it was possible to love someone without having met them first, but maybe that was just the way it worked when one was talking about their son or daughter and that was the situation here exactly. Deidara stared at Konan's back as though it was the most important thing in the world because, right now, it was. She was the only thing that matter right now. He had forgotten that Pein was there too, that Sasori was running to the clinic, hoping to help them stop Konan from committing what Deidara considered murder. He couldn't let her do this, he had to make her see that she was a mother and mothers had to take care of their children. He wanted to be with her but knew that was impossible. This was the least he could do for the baby.

"That's because...that's because you're such a _weirdo_! I mean, what the fuck is up with the whole Hidan thing? You...you tried to tell me it was alright? What the hell is wrong with you?" Konan turned around and now she was crying, her eyes were shut tight, tears streaming down her face, hands gripping her hair tightly.

"Goddamn it, Konan! I told you...I don't know what the hell I was doing! I...I just want to be with you, I want to be a father to my kid! You can't raise this child, Konan, and you fucking know it! But you pushed me away, the only one who tried to help you! But you! You're such a fucking _homophobe_! You think I'm gay just because...just because of that! Does that make me unworthy to be a father? Well guess what? You being such a _bitch_ about this makes you unworthy to be a mother-"

There was a split second in which Deidara actually saw Konan's hand coming at him. He felt her palm make contact with his cheek and then a stinging pain ran up the side of his face, followed by a smacking sound. Deidara took a step back and then raised a hand to his cheek, which was now bright red.

Konan glared at him. "Don't you _ever_ speak to me like that. You respect me, you fucking jerk, I'm not your slutty mother.," she put a hand to her stomach. "You forget who's carrying your fucking kid. I'll have the thing, but you can keep it. I don't want anything to do with it afterwards. Or_ you_!"

With that said, she turned and stomped back to her car. Pein stared at her in awe, rooted to the spot. It was only when she started her car that Pein reacted.

"_Oi!_ Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Pein yelled.

Konan did not reply. She drove out of the parking lot and soon her car was out of sight. Pein turned to Deidara, his hair flecked with snow. He began to walk towards the car just as Sasori came running towards him.

They both reached the car at the same time.

"Where is she?" Sasori said, trying to catch his breath.

Deidara did not reply, he remained rooted to the spot where he had been standing when Konan slapped him, staring in the direction Konan's car had gone.

Pein cleared his throat. "She left."

Sasori looked around. "Well, I can see _that_. What happened?"

"I lost my temper," Deidara said quietly. He turned and got back into the car, slamming the door shut. He felt tears sting his eyes and he made no attempt to hide or blink them away. They cascaded down his cheeks and dripped onto his shirt.

He could hear Pein and Sasori talking outside the car but he could not make out what they were saying, his mind was elsewhere. It was not the comment about Deidara's mother that had gotten to him, it was what she had said about the baby. She was treating the baby like a thing, like she could just give it away and the world would be right again. She had referred to the baby as "your fucking kid". Not "my baby", not "our baby", but "your". She had said she wanted nothing to do with both Deidara and the baby. In a small town like Ame, Konan could do what she wanted with the baby without any need for official paperwork or lawyers like it was in the big cities. She could practically hand the baby to Deidara as soon as it was born and no one would really care.

Deidara heard a car door slam shut and turned to find that Sasori was getting into the car. Pein had already gotten into the car, much to Deidara's surprise.

"Let's go get cleaned up, then we'll go out to get something to eat or whatever. No point in going back to school so late, ne? What do you say?" Pein said, starting the car. Apparently neither he nor Sasori had noticed that Deidara was crying.

"Sure, whatever, " Deidara mumbled, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand.

* * *

**Well, that's that chapter ._. R&R, yeah? Everyone, go review my boyfriend's story and tell him that Allen-chan said "GET SOME SLEEP, RYUU-KUN!" :D PLEASE? If you guys do it, I promise you all I will try my best on the next chapter and thank all of you individually ^-^ and you guys get cookies. And I'll love all of you forever and ever and ever...and EVER :D oki doki, bye bye, guys!**


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